Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth

by DivadX

Yuhiro Furutani, one of 8 children kidnapped 10 years ago by an unknown group, now works as Raguel, an agent in LINK VRAINS' Black Market. One day, he fights the Knights of Hanoi and encounters Playmaker, who becomes his newest assignment. Follow Yuhiro as he now must decide who he wants to become: as both a duelist and as an individual.

97. Chapter 97: Conflict Amongst Comrades

Response to Reviews

Thank you to Guest, Kingdom Hearts Guy, HunterHQ, Portal, Guest, Nexusknight2, Donkeyboy100, T.V. 2000 and Big Duels for reviewing Chapter 96 of Obscured Truth.

Hello, everybody! I hope you're doing well and are safe and sound wherever you are in the world. I do hope you enjoy this chapter, as the duel that happens here is supposed to be one of the best, and perhaps one of the most challenging ones I've ever written. Plus, we're only four chapters away from Chapter 100, which is my goal to reach by the end of December!

That being said, let's get to answering some reviews, shall we:

Guest: No, Yuhiro's new ace is not Kyurem. And if you've seen the nightmare scenes in Chapters 82 and 90, then you'll get your answer.

Kingdom Hearts Guy: Yeah, I can see Raguel becoming a bit of an anti-hero moving forward, though not to the same extent as the Knights of Hanoi.

HunterHQ: I guess that's a fair, yet morbid point you make regarding the similarities between the Cursed Boundary Layer and cancer. Arashi is not staying with Yusaku or Takeru. He's in a different motel, and if memory serves, Yusaku had his own apartment, while Takeru lived at his grandparents' house. If demand for an Action duel comes up, then I'll put it in the story. Yes, it's a surprise that Brea's parents were involved in the Lost Incident. As for who hired them, you'll find out later on in the story. No, Jericho can't go back to Urizen through the monolith. For Central Japan, details haven't been officially announced to the public, though do expect them to hear it soon. SOL Technologies didn't mute the voices. Believe it or not, Malf muted them to prevent Azrael's enemies from discovering vital information. You can also call it Azrael's mercy to Drachen for being a useful puppet. Yes, the fact that Yuhiro's parading his losses as the biggest ones in the room makes him a hypocrite, as he told Takeru not to do so back in Chapter 80. Regarding the Another virus being imbedded in the data clones, that's an idea to consider for down the road. Because of the Cursed Boundary Layer's increased development in an unexpected manner, Jericho doesn't have the time to make a new Construct. Such a thing takes a lot of time to do, so he has to make do with Rachel since she's the other Construct, even if it's a faulty one at that. Regarding Shesizi, I'm sure she'll pop up again. No, Hercules can't duel again. For Emon, you're correct on that analysis. Not only did he lose his deck, but the residual effects are also eating away at his body. The public does not know that Yuhiro killed those families as the Shadow, and if they knew that a human was infected and killing people, there'd be mass panic. You'll see the Fang of Critias in Season 3, that I can confirm. While Yusaku isn't a violent person, he does know how to fight, and his fighting abilities have been strengthened thanks to Takeru's training.

Portal: Well, you can't please everyone, can you? Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the chapter. If I wrote the whole damn trial from start to finish, then the chapter would have taken much longer to complete overall. And like I said, I plan to take Drachen in an interesting direction, and throwing in a cell would only detract from that. You should have also finished the chapter, as there were little things mentioned that will make an impact on the story down the road, as it's the little details that connect everything together.

Guest: Happy you liked the chapter.

NexusKnight2: I mean, you are correct on that question. And don't worry if you forgot anything. You can always double check online to ensure that the facts are correct.

Donkeyboy100: Glad you liked the chapter. I hope you have a great break.

T.V. 2000: Yuhiro certainly fell to the Cursed Boundary Layer, and has embraced his malice and despair as a result. Because Miyu hasn't logged into the network yet, I don't see Jericho using her to make Yuhiro fall into further madness. He's succeeded on that topic and is now waiting for Yuhiro to do the dirty work for him. The good news is that you'll see more of Souta Kubo later on in Season 3 and even beyond moving forward. I also plan for Brea to use other Xyz monsters later on in her duels. Again, each deck has a connection to the duelist based on their backstory, their views, and the people they know. For Brea, the fact that she uses the Train deck isn't just due to her interest in trains and military vehicles, it's to symbolize her bond with Roxy as well. And on the topic of Brea, along with her being a tsundere, I'd say she's a bit of a tomboy as well.

Big Duels: Yes, Yuhiro finally snapped. For your question regarding Urizen, there are two reasons why he didn't reprogram the seven other Ignis as his servants. First, someone else had the Ignis revived and reprogrammed in their VRAINS fanfics. Once the Ignis are brought back, they will both have their memories intact and their free will. Second, after Jericho showed the footage of Bohman and Haru's duels to Urizen, he saw great potential in both of them as powerful duelists. That's why he chose to reprogram Bohman and Haru compared to the seven Ignis. Third, the Ignis are needed to complete the Unity, so there was no point in Urizen reprogramming the Ignis. He trusts Jericho to complete the Unity now that he knows of the Root of All Knowledge being located on Earth. I know you're sad about Emon being gone, but one of the things that the anime didn't cover was real life casualties. There will always be loss, and the fact that the Hanoi suffered a lot of losses proves that point. Okay, regarding the "One Blast to rule them all", I kind of went overboard with that one. Like I said a while back, I planned for Clear Wing Fast Dragon to appear in Season 3, and I always fulfil my promises to the best of my ability. So, I hope you're satisfied. As for the trial, SOL Technologies is definitely up to something regarding Drachen. Last but not least, in terms of the design for Yuhiro's corrupted design, it's basically the Cursed Boundary Layer having attached itself to his body. I also added some vampiric qualities such as the pale skin, and you'll see a bit more in the next chapter or two as well.

Now that all reviews have been answered, let's get onto the chapter, shall we? Enjoy!

Chapter 97: Conflict Amongst Comrades

The screen is pitch black as the duel disks belonging to Yuhiro, Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi slowly fall from the top, scattered around the screen, and leaving small trails of stardust behind them. All four duel disks hit an invisible ground in unison, causing them to explode into cards that were used by every character in the story so far. The cards continue to rain across the screen before the Cursed Boundary Layer blackens the screen completely, replacing it with a new scene.

The camera moves from left to right, showing a grassy field with Den City and the following characters: Yuhiro, Miyu, Aoi, Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi, Brea, Go, Roxy, Kusanagi, Greg, Quinton, Miles, Ryoken, Youta, Takeya, Akairo, Emma, Kengo, Akira, Brion, Rachel, Gil, Tsubaki, and Gekiryushi. The wind blows, causing each person's hair and clothes to be blown up a bit. The scene suddenly changes, revealing Playmaker, Raguel, Blue Maiden, Numera, Slipstream, and Tigress on one side, along with a girl that had long, chestnut-colored hair in the form of a crown braid and hazel eyes. Her attire consisted of a long-sleeved, violet leather tunic with a lightweight silver chest plate, lightweight violet shoulder pads that had rainbow orbs at the center, and black, fingerless gloves. On the other side was Revolver, Specter, Lord Kazuma, Gil, and Soulburner, a destroyed LINK VRAINS behind them.

The screen then changes to show Yusaku and Ai in the streets of a raining Den City. Yusaku was looking down, and Ai was looking upwards, the rain drenching their clothes. Yusaku slowly looks up with a vexed expression, while Ai runs a hand through his hair and turns his gaze onward. In another area of Den City, Yuhiro is shown running as his strength was drained, having cried in despair as a silhouette of Yukage is shown with a smile before fading away in the rainy mist. A dark aura emits from Yuhiro as the Cursed Boundary Layer emerges from a large puddle and embraces him tightly before he logs into a desolate, forest-like area in LINK VRAINS that had a dead aura around it. A psychotic grin appeared on Raguel's face as a corrupted Excalibur formed in his right hand.

Opposing Raguel was Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream, the three duelists thrusting their right hands forward as Firewall Dragon Darkfluid, Salamangreat Pyro Phoenix, and Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon appear behind the trio and fire beams of energy at Raguel. The blasts impact, but when the smoke fades, Raguel is shown unharmed. Tentacles from the Cursed Boundary Layer appear behind Raguel, along with Cyreaths Pandora and Alastor on his right side, Atalanta/Alpha Mode and Teferi on his left side, and two demons floating above his right and left shoulders. The demon on the right had red skin with clawed hands, orange armor, and a helmet that had a red plume on the back, as well as spikes on the sides. The other demon had grey skin with yellow armor, spikes on his head, and a set of wings. Black, red, and purple particles merged with the corrupted Excalibur as Raguel charges forward at Playmaker and the others, the latter having summoned Decode Talker's sword to block the attack. Nearby, Jericho is shown chasing after Blue Maiden and Numera, only for him to suddenly dodge numerous cannon blasts fired from Tigress nearby, hellbent on protecting the duo.

The Knights of Hanoi are shown next, with Revolver, Specter, Lord Kazuma, Baira, Faust, Dr. Genome, Dancho and Infearno appearing one by one. However, the images of Dancho and Infearno then dissipate before being replaced by Demeter and Ondina. Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty and a mischievous, fallen pixie-like angel with long pink hair whose attire consisted of a black dress with stockings, as well as a pair of wings on her back appeared behind the two of them.

The scene changes to show Zero in an unknown area in the network, frantically looking through screens as he tries to pinpoint the Cursed Boundary Layer's whereabouts before changing to show Jericho in his laboratory, who's looking at his findings with glee. Seven orbs, one white, one black, one yellow, one red, one brown, one green, and one blue orbit around him as he sadistically smiles at what he's seeing.

Kusanagi, Katsuya, and Jin are shown in Café Nagi driving away from the Cursed Boundary Layer, intent on escaping its wrath. Roxy is also shown in her car with Miyu, Rachel, and Aoi, also hoping to escape from the Cursed Boundary Layer before it gets them both.

In a forest-like area with a large facility in it, Watchman is shown carrying Numera as Alastor pursues the duo on the left, while Atalanta/Alpha Mode pursues the duo on the right. Alastor throws the chained, curved blades at Watchman, who hops to the side and dodges it before throwing a Black Key in response. He then hops forward to dodge Atalanta/Alpha Mode's berserk attacks as he throws two more Black Keys at her. Watchman slides back, three more Black Keys appearing in his right hand as he prepares himself to confront his and Numera's attackers, Crimson Nova Trinity the Dark Cubic Lord appearing behind the duo as well to defend the both of them. Elsewhere, a corrupted Hercules/Alpha Mode slashes through the trees with Nine Lives in his hand, intent on pursuing Playmaker and Blue Maiden so he can destroy the two of them. At the last second, Decode Talker and Marincess Wonder Heart appear to block the unrelenting attacks, only for the clash to send them, along with Playmaker and Blue Maiden flying off the ground before landing on it. Decode Talker and Wonder Heart immediately get back up before engaging a corrupted Hercules/Alpha Mode in combat while Playmaker and Blue Maiden continue running from the chaos.

Cyreaths Medusa, Achilles, and two twins, one being a boy with short brown hair and green eyes who wore a white toga with gold cuffs and a black undershirt, the other a girl with long brown hair and green eyes who wore a white dress with gold armlets, look upward to the sky, trying to figure out who to side with as they contemplate their futures.

Yuhiro is shown looking at the destroyed Lost Incident facility lit up in flames, a content smile evident on his face as he lets out a loud and crazy laugh. He then walks away from it, ignoring the bodies in the area as he disappears in the darkness. The screen then jumps to the dark sky and the glowing red moon before being blackened completely.

In the real world, at Café Matsuo...

"Oh, God..." was all Roxy could mutter after what she, Miyu, Arashi, and Brea just saw. What happened just now... was not good for everyone at all.

"What the Hell was that?" Brea inquired, still in shock from what she witnessed. Apparently, several tall shadow creatures appeared and danced around Yuhiro before he fully became corrupted. As for the small one, it was cast aside the moment it tried to save Yuhiro from being consumed with malice and despair.

Miyu hugged herself as she began shaking. "Yuhiro, I'm sorry. I couldn't save you when you needed help..."

"Hey, it's going to be okay, Miyu." Roxy assured Miyu, as he helped her sit down on Yuhiro's bed.

"The Shadow... it must have been the one responsible for corrupting Yuhiro..." Arashi quickly figured out, with Roxy and Miyu nodding in agreement.

"Shadow? It's that thing going out at night and hurting people, right?" Brea guessed, with Arashi turning to her before nodding in confirmation.

"The one and only."

"It injured Yuhiro earlier today, and he succumbed to the infection before it took over him." Roxy hypothesized. "I don't know what that Shadow's going to make Yuhiro do, but we need to stop him before things get worse."

Brea raised an eyebrow in response. "And how are you going to find him? For all we know, he could be anywhere in the network. I mean, it's impossible for someone to log in whole in the network."

"You have something to find Yuhiro, right auntie?" Miyu quietly spoke, which got Roxy's attention. "I... I need to log into the network. I need to talk to him. Surely, there's something I can do to help." The light-blue glow appeared on her hands before dimming. The powers Aqua gave to Miyu before the former passed away allowed the latter to provide some assistance in helping Yuhiro try to recover from the pain he was going through.

Roxy began thinking for a moment before suddenly putting two and two together. "Hang on! I think I have something!" She quickly ran out of Yuhiro's room and headed down the stairs to the backroom, the others immediately following after her.

"Auntie, what are you doing?" Miyu asked, as she, Brea, and Arashi looked at Roxy starting up the systems before sitting down on one of the seats and immediately begin typing on the digital keyboard.

"Each person's duel disk as a special ID embedded in it. One that cannot be cracked." Roxy began explaining. "When someone logs into LINK VRAINS, their ID is shown to indicate that the person has successfully logged into the network. The best thing about it is that it doesn't disclose anyone's information, including who bought the duel disk."

"Hang on a minute here. You're trying to tell me that you want to find Yuhiro's whereabouts based on the ID in his duel disk? Don't take this the wrong way, but it's like finding a needle in a haystack." Arashi pointed out. Though the idea had merit, it was a slim one, especially due to how long it would take to find the whereabouts of the ID. That was because they didn't have similar data to help speed up the search.

Roxy turned around and looked at Arashi, a look of frustration evident on her face. "Well, I don't have any other ideas at the moment. So, unless you have an idea that's better-." Suddenly, the phone in her pocket began ringing. "Excuse me." She stood up from the seat and exited the backroom so she can take the call.

"Move aside." Brea told Arashi and Miyu, as she sat down on Roxy's spot before immediately beginning to type on the digital keyboard.

"Wait a second. I don't know who you are." Miyu realized.

"Oh, right. I haven't introduced you both." Arashi said. "Miyu, this is Brea. Brea, this is Miyu."

"Nice to meet you," both Miyu and Brea said to each other.

"Even though your idea's slim, Arashi, we don't know what else to do." Brea commented. "Unless you have a better idea, of course. I mean, you are the young prodigy who won a scholarship to the Tokyo Horizon Institute."

"Yeah, well, I got stripped of that title recently." Arashi sheepishly replied back, before Roxy ran back into the backroom.

"Rachel's been kidnapped!" Roxy exclaimed, much to everyone's shock.

"Kidnapped? By whom?" Miyu asked.

"I don't know, Miyu. Greg called just now, and said that Rachel was forcibly logged into the network." Roxy quickly answered back. "He concluded that someone kidnapped her, though as to who, again, I don't know that answer."

"Perhaps Rachel being forcibly logged into the network is connected to Yuhiro going berserk." Arashi surmised, before Miyu pulled his ear tightly.

"Yuhiro wouldn't kidnap someone, Arashi. He's too pure hearted to do such a thing. So don't go there." Miyu firmly warned Arashi, who squirmed out of fear in response. Brea, having seen this, giggled.

"Sorry." Arashi apologized, which led Miyu to let go of his ear after she made her point.

"I don't mean to be rude or mean, Miyu, but Arashi's hypothesis does have some merit." Brea commented. "It could be that the Shadow is the one who's ultimately after your friend Rachel, and is using Yuhiro as a catalyst to forcibly log her into the network."

"That makes sense when you think about it. So Yuhiro's not at fault here then." Roxy figured out, having breathed a sigh of relief after knowing that Yuhiro wouldn't, and would never do horrific things of his own free will. Something then clicked in her mind seconds later. "I got an idea." She quickly sent a text to Greg, who responded a minute or two later with some vital information. "Since Yuhiro most likely disabled the tracker in his duel disk, and his network ID will be difficult to find, we should look for Rachel's network ID instead."

"I see now. If we find Rachel, then we'll find Yuhiro." Arashi concluded, with Roxy nodding in confirmation as she sat down on the other seat before typing on the digital keyboard. A screen popped up beside the map of LINK VRAINS, where she put in a series of numbers and letters before placing them in the map, where the tracking systems began seconds later.

"With that settled out, Arashi, you go warn Playmaker and the others." Roxy turned to Arashi after saying this, knowing that Brea did not know about Yusaku being Playmaker and Takeru being Soulburner. When the time came, it would be up to Yusaku and Takeru to tell Brea the truth about how they were Playmaker and Soulburner in the network. "In the meanwhile, Brea and I will try to see where Rachel is in the network."

"Of course. I'll update you when I can." Arashi quickly ran out of the backroom before heading over to the entrance of Café Matsuo, where he exited the building and began running to reach Café Nagi.

"Auntie, I think I know someone who can help." Miyu said, before she whispered into Roxy's ear, who thought this over for a few seconds before responding.

"Okay, you go contact her and tell her what's happening." Roxy replied, as she wrote something on a piece of paper with a pen nearby. "Text her this information asap." Nodding, Miyu ran out of the backroom after Roxy gave the former the piece of paper.

"Who else are you getting to help with this situation?" Brea asked out of curiosity.

"A friend of ours. I'm sure you'll recognize her in the network, especially how she was once a celebrity duelist," was all Roxy cryptically responded with, which made Brea scratch her head wondering who the former and Miyu were talking about.

Miyu ran back upstairs to the living room and grabbed the phone before dialing a number, which rang for a few seconds before someone answered it on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Aoi, it's me." Miyu began speaking. "Something very bad is going on, and I need your help."

"What's wrong? Please tell me."

This led Miyu to explain everything that had happened over the past few hours to Aoi. Specifically, how Yuhiro was injured the previous night at the Shadow's hands, which led to it fully corrupting him later on. However, Miyu modified the part about her and Roxy talking with Yusaku and the others face to face by changing it to the duo talking with the group in the network. She obviously would keep Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi's real world identities a secret, as it was their choice to tell those they trusted who they were in the real world when the time came.

"Okay, so just to sum up: Yuhiro got fully corrupted by the Shadow, and is now somewhere in the network running rampant? Rachel was also kidnapped as well?" Aoi recalled.

"Yeah, that's all correct." Miyu confirmed. "Please help us, Aoi. I'd log in, but..."

"You just stay in the real world, Miyu. I'll help however you can." Aoi assured Miyu on the other end.

"Thank you, Aoi. I appreciate it." Miyu took a breath before speaking. "In that case, I'll send you some information that can help you find where Yuhiro is. Just be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry, Miyu. I'll be careful." Aoi promised, before she hung up on the other end. After the call ended, Miyu walked upstairs to her room before grabbing her duel disk. Looking at it, a part of Miyu obviously wanted to log into the network and try to calm Yuhiro down before things went worse. However, another part of Miyu knew that they needed to acquire more information if they wanted to free Yuhiro from the Shadow's corruption.

Knowing this, Miyu grabbed her duel disk and walked downstairs to the backroom, intent on helping however she can from the real world.

Several minutes later...

Arashi ran down the sidewalk as he raced all the way to the Den City square, intent on reaching Yusaku and the others so he can tell them what recently happened. Just when things were going well, it took a swift turn to disaster, as Yuhiro was now fully corrupted by the Shadow and running rampant somewhere in the network. Could Yuhiro also be the one responsible for the killings during the past few nights? Hell, was Yuhiro even at the Sincero Penitentiary murdering the inmates during that awful night?! No! Arashi couldn't even begin to think about that possibility. He would stick with the possibility that Yuhiro was being used by the Shadow for whatever plans it had with Rachel, along with Project: VIII in general. Hell, maybe the person with glasses sent the Shadow to find the right host for his plans. Yes, the person with glasses was ultimately the one responsible for this mess, not Yuhiro!

"Come on, come on..." Arashi muttered, having pressed the button so he can cross the sidewalk at the stop light. While this was an emergency, even Arashi had the common sense not to run across the street like a maniac. After a minute or so, the cars stopped, which allowed Arashi to continue running down the sidewalk before turning right, where he eventually made it to Den City square following a few more minutes of running. Looking around the area, he found Café Nagi at a nearby section of the square, grateful that Kusanagi and the others were there.

"I gotta tell you, I didn't expect this number of customers at this time of the day." Kusanagi admitted, who was cleaning the grill.

"It's the end of the day rush, after all. That, or people wanted to socialize with one another due their work being on hybrid schedules." Takeru commented, having taken a seat at one of the tables nearby. Yusaku was also sitting at the seat opposite to Takeru.

"Probably a bit of both, Takeru. Working in person and working at home each has its own benefits and cons. By putting in the hybrid schedules for the time being, companies are allowing people to not only choose the days they're comfortable working in the office, they're also allowing them to acquire rest for their mental health as well." Yusaku explained.

"GUYS!" Arashi shouted, having ran over to where the group was as they saw him approach them.

"Hey, Arashi. We didn't expect you-." Takeru began speaking, before realizing that something was seriously wrong.

"Yuhiro... Shadow... Snapped... Rachel got kidnapped..." Arashi spat out words, shock running from his body due to the adrenaline going through it.

"Settle down, Arashi. Tell us everything that happened." Yusaku gently said to Arashi as he stood up on his feet.

"Just... let me... catch my breath... first..." Arashi sat down at the seat nearby before telling the others everything that just happened. How Yuhiro succumbed to the Shadow and snapped before logging fully into the network. How, according to what Roxy told them from Greg, Rachel was somehow kidnapped and forcibly logged into the network by someone. Arashi even shared his thoughts about looking for Yuhiro's ID in the network, with Yusaku and the others agreeing that it was like looking for a needle in a haystack if you didn't have the right information to do so. However, after learning that Greg passed the ID of Rachel's duel disk to the group, they concurred with the idea of using her ID to track down Yuhiro. Besides, according to Arashi, the Shadow had a special interest in her, which was what led to using Yuhiro as a catalyst to forcibly log her into the network.

"Okay, now this was a lot of information to go by." Kusanagi stated. "I do agree with you on the topic that Yuhiro's being used by the Shadow to go after Rachel."

"Well, obviously. Even though Yuhiro's not feeling well, he wouldn't let some illness corrupt him. I mean, those who have fallen ill haven't been corrupted, so something like that shouldn't have happened to Yuhiro." Arashi pointed out.

"Do you think the person with glasses has a role in this?" Takeru asked. "He attacked Ai in Mirror LINK VRAINS in his attempt to free the other Ignis."

"It's very likely that the person with glasses has a large role in this, Takeru." Yusaku answered, having pondered over everything they've learned over the last few days. "Think about it: The person with glasses appeared near the end of the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS in an attempt to stop Ai from freeing the others. He could have a special interest in acquiring the Ignis for his own purposes."

Kusanagi grit his teeth after suddenly realizing something. "Then the person with glasses must have somehow acquired knowledge in both Project: VIII, Project: Apotheosis and the Lost Incident before beginning that mission. And given how Bohman was made as a Construct by Athaliah, it only makes sense for the person with glasses to appear during the war. For by doing so, he can acquire them all in one fellow swoop."

"Then perhaps this is the person with the glasses' second attempt at getting the Construct and Ai." Takeru theorized, before he and the others heard Yusaku letting out a small gasp of pain as his head began ringing. Seeing this, Takeru and Arashi helped Yusaku sit down at one of the chairs, who nearly fell over due to the pain in his head.

"Wait a minute. This happened before." Kusanagi stated, having remembered the time when this last occurred as he ran out of Café Nagi to go check on Yusaku. "It was your Link Sense, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, Kusanagi. It was my Link Sense." Yusaku confirmed, before letting out another gasp of pain as his vision changed. He now saw Numera running away from what looked like a massive Shadow giant, hellbent on capturing her for...no, it couldn't be.

"Yusaku? Tell us what's going on, man. You look like you've spaced out for several moments." Arashi spoke up, which snapped Yusaku out of his shock.

Yusaku, in response, stood up on his feet despite being a little woozy. "I saw Numera being hunted down by a shadow creature, which confirms what Arashi said is true. And... Yuhiro was there in that place in the network."

"What place in the network, Yusaku? Do you know where Yuhiro and Rachel are?" Takeru questioned, with Yusaku shaking his head back in response. As if on cue, a notification suddenly popped up in the servers in Café Nagi, much to everyone's surprise before running inside. Looking at the screens, the group saw a digital trail of pieces of a dark-purple algorithm, as well as an ID code.

U006ndksla0k3212ld094k859

"Hang on a second. Those pieces of algorithm..." Kusanagi muttered, before sitting down at one of the seats in Café Nagi and quickly pulling up the algorithms of Ai, Flame and Herlad. After doing so, he did a quick scan of the algorithm on the screen, with a plus sign popping up once the scan was complete. Upon seeing this, Kusanagi, Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi gasped in shock.

"That's Ai's algorithm." Arashi realized.

"Maybe Ai found where Yuhiro and Rachel are in the network. It could be his way of helping us." Takeru voiced his opinion.

"But it can also be a trap, Takeru. Do you not remember when Blood Shepherd used a fake Ignis algorithm and captured you?" Yusaku reminded Takeru, who rolled his eyes.

"I get what you're saying, Yusaku, but we won't be able to find out until we go to those coordinates."

"I'll call Roxy and send the information to her. You guys double check to make sure that the algorithm's not a fake." Kusanagi instructed, as he grabbed his phone and headed out of Café Nagi before making a call. Once that was done, Yusaku and Arashi sat down on the seats before typing on the digital keyboard, intent on fully ensuring that the algorithm on the monitor wasn't fake.

"I beg your pardon for my rudeness, Takeru, but Yusaku makes a valid point here. In a situation such as this, we can't afford to take risks." Arashi said.

"I hear you and Yusaku loud and clear, Arashi. Still, we won't be able to determine what's on the other side until we log into those coordinates." Takeru repeated his counterpoint.

"If it helps, Takeru, I have a strong feeling that the algorithm's not fake. It's the real deal." Yusaku voiced his theory. "After everything Ai went through, the last thing he'd want to do is be reckless. That's why he would double check things on his end before sending the coordinates to us."

After a minute or so passed, Yusaku and Arashi finished the scan, which confirmed that the algorithm wasn't fake after all. At this point, Kusanagi returned to Café Nagi, having finished his call with Roxy.

"I told Roxy about the algorithm Ai sent, and she also thinks it's the real deal." Kusanagi stated, before walking over to see the screen. Sure enough, it showed that the data regarding Ai's algorithm was true. "Well, it seems you guys beat me to the punch."

"Considering the information we already had, it didn't take too long at all." Yusaku replied back.

"I'll text Roxy right away. She'll be pleased to hear this." Kusanagi quickly texted Roxy confirmation of the fact that the algorithm Ai sent was indeed real. From there, he received a text from her containing next steps. "Alright, Roxy texted back. She wants the coordinates Ai sent us, and will have Tigress assisting you guys as well in the network."

"Tigress? What's she doing at Café Matsuo?" Takeru inquired.

"Tigress is a part of the Rickety Raiders, Takeru." Yusaku reminded Takeru. "Though I wonder why she's at Café Matsuo." He, Takeru and Kusanagi turned to Arashi, knowing that he would have the answer here.

"Brea was with me at the time when Roxy called me on my phone, and she said that she'd go with me to help after learning that something wasn't right with Yuhiro." Arashi explained. "Rest assured, she doesn't know about your identities as Playmaker and Soulburner. It's fair and important that you guys be the ones to do so, after all. But moving that aside, believe it or not, Brea has a connection to the Lost Incident." That comment made Yusaku, Takeru, and Kusanagi gasp in response. "Look, I'll make sure she tells you guys later, alright? As for right now, we could use all the help we can get. I don't see people like Ghost Girl, Blood Shepherd and Go Onizuka helping us anytime soon."

"Maybe Blue Maiden can help us." Takeru suggested.

"Aside from Tigress, Blue Maiden might be the only other person who can help us right now." Yusaku admitted. Given how Blue Maiden worked with Aqua, it only made sense for her to help Yusaku and the others out. Besides, Aoi was friends with Miyu and Yuhiro, so she'd lend a hand to help if it concerned those she cared about.

"On that topic, Roxy texted me earlier that she had Miyu contact Aoi for her help in this situation." Kusanagi said. "So for the time being, I think that's enough allies, lest it blow up into something far worse than what's currently going on. After all, the last thing we need is to get the Hanoi involved."

Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi all nodded in agreement, knowing exactly what Kusanagi was talking about. It was a few days ago, when the trio spoke with Ryoken, Youta, and Takeya about Yuhiro, along with Ryoken's analyses on their ally.

"The three of you are complete fools if you think Raguel will still be your ally after what transpired, as well as how his family indirectly contributed towards two Lost Incidents and Project: Apotheosis. Think about it: Both Raguel and Azrael wield swords that give them unfathomable power, can transform into beings that enhance their skills through Link Trigger, and their Ignis' are the most powerful ones out of all of them. What's the likelihood that Raguel will betray you three now that you know the truth about both him and his family?"

"Raguel, on the other hand, is more than capable of fighting offensively and defensively. In short, he's a bomb with a lit fuse that can go off at any moment."

"I will be honest: Of the three of you, given recent events, Playmaker has the highest chance of stopping Raguel should he go berserk. If Raguel becomes a threat, then the Hanoi will ensure that he pays the blood debt for the pain his brother put us through, no matter if he dies or not. After all, the bill always comes due."

Yusaku grit his teeth in anger after remembering what Ryoken said about Yuhiro. Despite Yuhiro's origins, Yusaku and the others still saw him as their ally. Hell, their friend even. And right now, Yuhiro was not only suffering at the hands of the Shadow, but was also being used as a pawn for whatever schemes the person with glasses has in mind. Thus, Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi and their allies had to free Yuhiro from the Shadow and its master. For by doing so, they can save Yuhiro and ensure his health returns back to normal. "We should get going. Tell Roxy to have Tigress meet us at the coordinates Ai sent us."

"I will." Kusanagi promised, as he quickly typed on the digital keyboard to send Roxy an email regarding the coordinates Ai sent them. Once it was fully sent, Yusaku and Takeru went into the rooms installed at the back of Café Nagi. Specifically, the purple one for Yusaku, and the red one for Takeru. As for Arashi, he stayed in the seat he was already sitting in.

"Deck Set! Into the VRAINS!" Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi shouted in unison as the trio put their decks in their respective duel disks before officially logging into the network.

Just be careful, guys. We can't to afford to lose you, Kusanagi thought in his mind, before he turned his head to look at the monitors, intent on assisting the group in the real world the best he can.

Elsewhere, at an area in the network...

Numera ran through the desolated, forest-like area she was in, a look of pure terror evident on her face as she tried to escape the thing that was pursuing her. It was a massive shadow creature that had no hands, feet, and head, which meant it only had arms and legs in the form of ribbons. On its body was eight glowing dots, six of which were in the form of a circle, one in the middle of that circle, and the last one underneath the bottom dot, all of which were its eyes.

When Numera woke up, she was shocked after realizing that someone forcibly logged her into the network. Knowing that things were not good at all, she summoned her beloved protector Final Sigma at her side. The strongest Cyberse monster Numera had in her deck, which had never failed her before. As they looked around the area, Numera noticed the dead wildlife, shrivelled trees and the dark, night-like sky around her. She even noticed the only intact structure in the area, which was a massive castle.

Before Numera could investigate the area, the humanoid silhouette on top of the castle raised its right hand, which caused a massive Shadow giant to emerge from the lake and charge towards her. Numera, in response, had Final Sigma charge forward and attack, knowing that the Shadow giant was just like the thing that attacked her and the others back in Central Japan. Even though Final Sigma's attack landed a blow on the Shadow giant, it was forced to retreat after barely dodging an attack from the latter. To Numera's sudden shock, she telepathically felt Final Sigma say something she thought she'd never hear from it.

Run.

While Final Sigma was confident that it could eliminate any enemies that would hurt Numera, its logic eventually made it realize that it could not defeat the approaching foe. At that instant, Numera started running. She unfortunately knew that the Shadow giant was something they can not defeat, especially as it did not come from this world. What was even worse was that Numera could not log out, which meant she was stuck running in the server until Greg or someone can disable the thing preventing her from leaving the network.

The two of them will ultimately lose at this rate. With her aside, even at full strength, Final Sigma could not beat the Shadow giant. It will lose, and Numera will lose her beloved protector in the process. That's one of the roots of Numera's uneasiness. She's running away not just for her own safety, but for Final Sigma's safety as well.

Another root of her uneasiness was that Raguel, who Numera called one of her dearest friends, was the person who commanded the Shadow giant to attack her. From the vision she previously experienced, she knew of Raguel's intent on kidnapping her for his plans. This was something Numera was hellbent on preventing, as the future was never set in stone.

Final Sigma carried Numera as the duo made their way through the forest, evading the Shadow giant's numerous attacks. With the fact that Final Sigma's attacks wouldn't be able to deliver a fatal blow against the Shadow giant, this made retreat the only option available. Or in this case, evasion until either Greg or someone else was able to disable what was preventing Numera from logging out of the network.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, a barrage of arrows from a crossbow fired out of nowhere and hit the Shadow giant, which made it stagger due to the numerous explosions that occurred seconds later. This forced Numera and Final Sigma to seek cover behind several trees in response lest they get caught up in the explosions.

"This way!" a voice exclaimed, which led Numera and Final Sigma to turn to see Tigress, who gestured them to follow after her. Knowing that Tigress was someone who can be trusted, Numera had Final Sigma quickly put her down onto the ground, where it turned into particles that went back into her duel disk before she followed after her rescuer.

"Who are you?" Numera asked, as she ran with Tigress to another area of the forest, intent on getting as much distance away from the Shadow giant as possible.

"You're Numera, right?" Tigress correctly guessed, which made Numera nod in confirmation. "My name's Tigress, and I'm an ally of Playmaker and the others. We're here to rescue you."

Numera gasped for a few seconds before smiling. She knew that help would arrive soon, and was grateful for it. But the fact that Tigress didn't know what was happening made Numera lose the smile that appeared on her face seconds later. "Do you know what's really going on? Do you know-?"

"That Raguel snapped by the hands of that Shadow and is going berserk? Yup! I already know it!" Tigress answered, which caused Numera to gasp in surprise. "Playmaker and the others will buy us time so I can get you out of here. You have my word."

The Shadow giant, having spotted Tigress and Numera immediately resumed marching towards the duo, intent on capturing Numera and bringing her to Raguel. The attacks launched with its arms made Tigress and Numera move to the sides in order to avoid them. Tigress, in response, fired more arrows from her crossbow at the Shadow giant while Numera threw yellow glowing triangles at their common foe. The arrows stunned the Shadow giant once more, allowing the yellow glowing triangles to release a sonic boom that pushed it back. Still, it didn't stop the Shadow giant from pursuing its prey, as it continued hunting down Tigress and Numera.

Jericho, who hid himself in the shadows of the forest, watched the carnage with glee. As much as he wanted to simply eliminate Tigress and capture Numera on the spot, there was no need to do so for the time being. Otherwise, it'll only make Raguel take drastic measures, which can increase the likelihood of something unpredictable happening in the process. Besides, why do a task yourself when you can have others complete the goal for you? After all, given how Numera was one of Playmaker's allies, it was very likely that Playmaker and the others would log into this area to rescue her. What's more, the fact that Playmaker was Ai's origin meant that Raguel was intent on drawing the final Ignis out in order to capture him. To put it simply, once Raguel acquired both Ai and Numera, then Jericho would strike. But if things took a turn, then Jericho was more than willing to get his hands dirty, especially now that Urizen deemed it more urgent than ever for him to get the job done.

"My, oh my, it seems you managed to bring out Shadow giants already, Raguel." Jericho muttered. Another function of the Cursed Boundary Layer was its ability to release Shadow giants in order to further weaken the planet from the inside out while the host was being overloaded with energy. This stage would only occur once the host has become a rancorous version of themselves after consuming so much energy from others. From what Jericho saw, it meant that things were certainly going well in his favor, as all his work was paying off.

On top of the castle was Raguel, who had been looking at several digital screens, wanting to remind himself of the horrors that sin had brought onto this world. Hell, maybe onto the entire universe. From pollution, to war, to inequality, to poverty, to horrific crimes of all levels and so many more, Raguel saw the impact and consequences sin had on living beings. All of those things led to separation amongst living things, along with so much death and suffering in the process. All of those things not only broke Raguel's heart, but disgusted him as well.

After confirming that Numera was forcibly logged into the network, instead of sending his sentient Cyreath monsters, Raguel chose to send a Shadow giant to capture her. It was one of the new abilities he gained after fully embracing his malice and despair, so he wanted to test that ability out firsthand before using it later on. The other reason why Raguel sent the Shadow giant after Numera was because a part of him was wary, wanting to make sure that the job was done.

The wariness inside Raguel was there because he did not want to be betrayed again. Not after being betrayed by his friends, the woman he deemed his mother, and the girl he loved. Those three betrayals broke Raguel from within, which was what led him to fully embrace his malice and despair, along with the Cursed Boundary Layer, in the first place. Thus, for the time being, Raguel wanted to get the job done himself in order to achieve the highest rate of success for his mission. If needed, he was willing to use the sentient Cyreath monsters under his command should things go south. And in the event Raguel detected something suspicious regarding his allies, then he'd ensure they know their place.

"It's heartbreaking to see a world, no, a universe so scarred." Raguel lamented, as he swiped the screens away. After doing so, he spread out his arms. "But the purge is necessary. I can see a bright shining future not just for this world, but for the entire universe as well. Once it's finally freed from sin, a barbarous and infectious cancer that should have never existed." He then looked upwards at the dark sky above him, a smirk evident on his face. "It won't be long until this planet, no, this universe is reborn as a utopia. Rejoice, mankind. Your suffering will finally come to an end." But before Raguel could say anymore, a beam of energy appeared some distance away from him. One that was light blue, which meant only one thing to Raguel.

Apparently, Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream caught wind of what Raguel was doing and logged into the network to stop him. But how they were able to find Raguel's location was something he wanted to find out.

Raguel chuckled after coming to that realization. He raised his right hand in front of him, which caused the Shadow giant to dissolve into particles. "Huh. So, Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream have finally arrived." A data clone appeared beside him, which resembled his avatar before it got corrupted. The element of surprise was certainly a way to catch someone off guard, as it can portray a factor or situation before changing it entirely. "Go greet the others. The carnage will begin soon." The data clone of Raguel bowed before jumping off the castle and running over to the beacon of light, while the real Raguel allowed the Cursed Boundary Layer to envelop him as he sank into the ground temporarily.

Meanwhile, at another area in the server...

Blue Maiden successfully logged into the server using the coordinates she was given from Roxy and Miyu, intent on helping the two of them regarding what was going on with Raguel. Looking around, she saw that she was in a desolate, forest-like area that had a dead aura around it. This was evident by the wildlife in the area, shrivelled trees, and the dark, night-like sky. The last thing that caught Blue Maiden's attention was the only structure in the server, which as a massive castle. Did Raguel set it up as his base of operations? Was he expecting someone here? Or was something else going on?

What Blue Maiden knew from what Miyu told her was that Rachel was forcibly logged into the network. Specifically, in this server. According to the information Miyu provided to Blue Maiden, the Shadow used Raguel as a catalyst to complete this task. Thus, Blue Maiden logged into the server so she can help Playmaker and the others in freeing Raguel from the Shadow, along with identifying whether the Shadow's true master was responsible for corrupting their ally.

Blue Maiden turned to see a bird fly through the forest, as though it were trying to tell her something. "Does it want me to follow it?" She chased the bird down the forest to see where it was taking her. Unfortunately, something injured the bird before it could fly any longer. Before Blue Maiden can determine who or what injured the bird, it exploded into particles, which made her gasp as she jumped to the side.

Something's not right here, Blue Maiden thought in her mind, as a gust of wind blew through the forest. She tightened her fists and took a fighting stance, ready for whatever is about to happen next. After hearing footsteps from the other side of the thicket, along with a sound among the swaying branches, Blue Maiden turned around and prepared to land a punch on the attacker.

"Don't move!" both Blue Maiden and Tigress said at the same time, the two of them freezing upon seeing one another.

"Blue Maiden? Is that you?" Numera asked, as she ran to where Blue Maiden was.

"You're okay, Numera. You're okay." Blue Maiden cried out of relief, as she knelt down to Numera's level and ruffled the latter's hair.

"Blue Maiden?" Tigress repeated, before something clicked in her mind after looking at Blue Maiden. "Hang on a minute. You're supposed to be Blue Angel, the Charisma duelist. You're the ally Angelica talked about back in the real world!"

"Yeah, I did. And I guess you're one of Playmaker's allies?" Blue Maiden guessed, as she stood up on her feet.

"I am. Call me Tigress." Tigress introduced herself. "As for why I'm here, well, I'm getting Numera out of here while Playmaker, Soulburner, and Slipstream deal with Raguel. But unfortunately, it seems that either Raguel or something else is preventing us from leaving the server. That's what Roxy and Playmaker's ally told me earlier after I confirmed I found Numera."

"Playmaker and the others are here?" Blue Maiden asked, before another gust of wind blown through the forest, which went upwards and formed into a cone of pure energy. This caused her, Numera, and Tigress to run forward to where it was coming from, the trio immediately hiding behind several large pieces of debris for cover.

There, they saw Playmaker, Soulburner, and Slipstream look upward at the sky as the windy cone of thunderous energy dissipated to reveal Raguel, who landed on top of a destroyed piece of the castle just some distance away from the group.

"So you and the others came. I knew you'd find this server eventually, but I didn't expect you to find it this quickly. I am curious on how you were able to find it in the first place." Raguel commented, with Playmaker glaring back in response as the former jumped onto the ground some distance away from the latter.

"That's for us to know and for you to not know about." Playmaker said back. "Raguel, the others and I had faith that you wouldn't let the Shadow corrupt you. We also had faith that you would never murder other people as well." He grit his teeth. "Were you conscious at all when the killings took place? Have you fallen into the depths of despair to the point that you can't recognize what you've done was wrong? Do you no longer see the meaning in life as well?"

"Yes, I thought that was obvious." Raguel began answering all three questions with that single answer at once, much to Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream's disgust. "I will admit, I wasn't aware of what was going on at first, but I didn't bother stopping myself from killing people once I found out the truth. Besides, I did the people I've killed a favor by freeing them from this miserable world. No, this miserable universe."

"Those people you murdered still had lives, Raguel! You had no right to take them away!" Soulburner exclaimed.

"If you keep this up, you'll end up going on the same path Azrael took." Slipstream warned Raguel, who chuckled in response.

"The path that Azrael took? There's no need to warn me about that outcome, Slipstream, as I'm already on that path. With what I've done and what I must do to fulfil my destiny, it's too late for me to go back now." Raguel freely admitted.

"Your destiny?" Soulburner repeated.

"Damn it, Raguel, you're seriously going after the Root of All Knowledge, aren't you?" Slipstream realized.

"He is, Slipstream. At this rate, Raguel's either finishing what Azrael started, or has simply accepted his calling after all of this time." Playmaker confirmed, much to Slipstream and Soulburner's shock.

"It's both reasons, believe it or not, Playmaker. Not one or the other." Raguel firmly clarified. "Don't you see I'm doing everyone in this universe a favor? Everything I'm doing is so all living things can be freed from the very thing that has poisoned them since the dawn of time!"

Soulburner crossed his arms. "Yeah, right. All you're doing is justifying your selfish actions, Raguel."

"I'm merely stating the reasons for my actions, Soulburner. There is nothing wrong with that, and whether you choose to accept my reasons or not is your decision alone." Raguel countered.

"From what you told us, you're using sin to destroy sin, Raguel. It'll still be there no matter what you do." Slipstream pointed out, which made Raguel grit his teeth.

"So what? My family has spent generations trying to acquire the Root of All Knowledge through numerous methods, even if the actions they chose were sinful." Raguel said back before he let out a chuckle. "Then again, I'm talking to people who don't understand what sin has infected the universe with, and the relentless agony it unleashed as a result."

"What did you say?" Playmaker questioned, which made Raguel frown back.

"You heard me. Sin has caused nothing but pain to everyone, whether it's through our own sins or through the consequences that other people's sins produce. Our world, no, our universe has been broken as a result!" Raguel firmly exclaimed.

"Just because our universe's broken doesn't mean it's irreparable, Raguel. The mistakes and errors of the past doesn't have to define the future-." Soulburner began replying, intent on making a strong counterpoint that would make Raguel stand down.

"Hehehe."

That little chuckle from Raguel not only made Soulburner stop talking, but also caused him, Playmaker and Slipstream to tense up as well. What caught the trio off guard was them seeing Raguel glitch on and off numerous times.

"How foolish optimistic the three of you are. Listen to me very closely." Raguel began speaking, as he continued glitching on and off. "Think about every living thing in the universe, starting with this world. All living things are walking, talking and rotting corpses whose minds deteriorate with every day that passes." He then coughed several times, which made Playmaker, Soulburner, and Slipstream keep their guard up. They gasped after seeing Raguel begin breaking down into pieces of data, much to their horror.

"You can't even begin to comprehend the indescribable pain of decomposing because of the damage sin has inflicted onto living beings. There's no living being in existence who is pure. No living being who hasn't hurt others. No living being who hasn't suffered. Such things don't exist because of how sin's so heavily intertwined with living beings."

"So you're willing to massacre all living beings just to destroy sin?!" Slipstream demanded.

"NO! Neither the elimination of free will nor the eradication of all living beings will solve this problem! I must go to the source and destroy it, for only with the Root of All Knowledge will I be able to succeed!" Raguel angrily responded, as the pieces of data on the ground then began forming back into him. "If it meant fixing this broken universe forever..." The pieces of data then fully formed back into Raguel. "...I'D DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO CLEANSE IT OF SIN AT ALL COSTS!"

A massive burst of wind blew through the forest seconds later, no one obviously startled by it as Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream stared down at Raguel in silence before it was broken.

"I'm disgusted by you. Have you really lost yourself that much, Raguel?" Playmaker inquired, which got Raguel's attention. "Don't you remember the person you truly are? The one who is our friend and ally? The one who'd risk everything to keep those he cared about safe from harm? That person is still alive, Raguel. We won't give up on him."

Raguel grunted back in response. "That's quite the speech coming from you, Playmaker. No wonder everyone in LINK VRAINS looks up to you. But I'm afraid the time for words is over." He grinned. "Now I, Raguel, the last descendant of the Furutani lineage, will finally finish what my family and brother started." He then cackled with laughter before turning into particles, which startled Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream.

"Wait a minute. That was-?" Slipstream began deducing.

"A data clone. We've been talking to a data clone of Raguel this entire time." Playmaker realized.

"If that wasn't Raguel, then where's-?" Soulburner began asking.

The next thing everyone knew, a light-purple mist began spreading in the area, which drained the life force of the wildlife further. Some distance away from Playmaker and the others, the Cursed Boundary Layer emerged before beginning to open up, as though it were a cocoon. Inside was the real Raguel, who increased his power as he raised his right arm high into the air. As a result, a black orb of energy appeared in his hand, which formed into Excalibur. However, while it was a typical western sword, its appearance was different.

For starters, both the rain-guard and grip were colored black, with the former having red lines on it. The sword was also dyed in a jet-black color, with the blade now having a long, red line and four red circles inscribed onto it. This was no longer Excalibur.

This was Excalibur Morgan.

Raguel brought down the newly christened Excalibur Morgan to his side, which released an outburst of energy from him.

"...!" Playmaker gasped upon sensing the energy. As if on cue, Decode Talker and Salamangreat Heatleo appeared behind Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream.

"What the-?" Slipstream began speaking, before Decode Talker and Heatleo grabbed him, Soulburner and Playmaker as they jumped forward into the air, a massive shockwave of energy erupting from the area in the process. Tigress, Numera and Blue Maiden were also blown back by the shockwave before they fell to the ground, the trio luckily not harmed.

Decode Talker and Heatleo landed on the curtain wall of the castle, having avoided the attack.

"This... this is insane..." was all Soulburner could say, as the quintet looked down at the damage the shockwave had unleashed. A lake of data material then formed, with Raguel walking on it as he emitted energy.

Tigress, Numera and Blue Maiden ran up the slope to see what happened, the trio shocked by the damage the shockwave had on the server.

"That's... Raguel..." Blue Maiden realized, with Numera covering her mouth in horror while Tigress grit her teeth in fury.

"Stay back!" Playmaker told Soulburner and Slipstream, as Decode Talker returned to his duel disk. A sword resembling that of Decode Talker's appeared beside Playmaker, who grabbed it and leapt down the curtain wall before charging forward with enhanced speed as he engaged Raguel in battle. As if by instinct, Playmaker quickly blocked Raguel's attacks using Decode Talker's sword before striking back, only for the latter to swing Excalibur Morgan before the former blocked the attack. Unfortunately, Playmaker was pushed back by the attack, where he ended up on dry land. Suddenly, shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles wrapped themselves around Playmaker's arms and legs to restrain him from moving. "What is this?!"

"Get out of there, guys! If you don't, who knows what will happen to you!" Numera called out not just to Playmaker, but to Soulburner and Slipstream as well, the three of them gasping at Numera's warning. Before Playmaker could try to even free himself, the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles flung him to where Raguel was, the latter slashing the former with Excalibur Morgan. However, at the last second, Playmaker was able to dodge it just enough for the impact to be minor. In Playmaker's mind, he concluded that his Link Sense and Instinct was definitely helping in surviving the battle. What's more, in Playmaker's mind, he felt that Raguel wasn't trying to kill him based on his goal of obtaining the Root of All Knowledge. This meant only one thing.

Raguel only drew Playmaker and the others out in order to try and draw Ai out from wherever he was in the network.

Playmaker landed on dry land once again, having nearly fell over due to the wound he received just now, as evident by the medium-sized gash on his chest. He won't let Raguel get Ai. Not after everything that's happened as a result of the battle in Mirror LINK VRAINS. For if Raguel seized Ai, then it would be all over.

"That Link Sense of yours is certainly helping, Playmaker." Raguel commented, as he pointed Excalibur Morgan at Playmaker. "Let's see how long it'll last against someone such as myself."

Nearby the battlefield was Jericho, who was watching the battle behind several trees in the shadows.

"The score has been settled." Urizen said through a hologram that appeared on Jericho's duel disk, the latter having hidden near the battlefield to get a close look at it. He turned to face Jericho, which got his attention. "I shall leave the rest to you, Jericho. Capture the fake Construct as soon as possible and return back to your base."

"Of course, Great One." Jericho quietly complied, not wanting to give away his location as he blended in the shadows as the hologram fizzled out completely. While Raguel eliminated Playmaker and drew Ai out, Jericho would capture Numera as a starting point to completing his task when the perfect time came to do so. For first, Jericho wanted to see Numera and the others fall into despair as they watch their beloved ally lose at their former ally's hands.

Playmaker grit his teeth as he felt Ai's algorithm suddenly healing his body. Just like before, during my Speed duel against Revolver, he realized in his mind, his body fully healed by the time he came to that conclusion. After his wound was completely healed, Playmaker stood up straight, having grabbed Decode Talker's sword with his hands. In response, black, red and purple particles merged into Excalibur Morgan, which increased the sword's size in the process.

Playmaker charged forward with enhanced speed as Raguel slashed forward, which sent the dark energy in waves at the former. In response, Playmaker felt his body dodge the attacks before swinging Decode Talker's sword at Raguel, the blade lock resulting in another shockwave of energy being sent through the entire area. As a result, Tigress, Numera and Blue Maiden were forced to begin running from the battle area while Heatleo grabbed Soulburner and Slipstream before jumping high into the air, all of them intent on avoiding the clash.

KABOOM!

KABOOM!

KABOOM!

Several explosions erupted from the area as Final Sigma appeared and grabbed Tigress, Numera and Blue Maiden before making a successful escape from the battlefield. Nearby was Heatleo with Soulburner and Slipstream, who found the others before rendezvousing with them at a massive piece of rubble.

"Are you all okay?" Heatleo inquired, as he put Soulburner and Slipstream down, while Final Sigma put down Tigress, Numera and Blue Maiden onto the ground.

"W-W-What? Your monsters talk?" Tigress questioned in shock, having been unable to comprehend what just happened in front of her. She never could anticipate duel monsters having sentience, nor could she realize that they could talk!

"Yeah, welcome to the club, Tigress." Soulburner told Tigress, as he went over to where Numera was. "Listen, we're here to get you out of here, Numera. You have our word."

"I know, Soulburner. Tigress and Blue Maiden already promised me that." Numera said back.

"Hey, Roxy. We have Numera. Are you able to log us out of here?" Tigress inquired, having pressed a button on her duel disk.

"Still no, Tigress. At least not yet, anyway. Whatever's there is preventing us from logging you guys out. Nor will you guys be able to log out until we're able to break through the defenses to do so on our end." Roxy sadly answered.

Soulburner walked some distance away from the others before touching his earpiece. "Kusanagi, Roxy said that there's interference. Everything okay on your end?"

"Sorry, Soulburner, but Roxy's right. We can't log you guys out, nor can you all log out until the thing in the server's been eliminated." Kusanagi backed up Roxy's answer from Café Nagi. "To put it simply, the five of you will have to hold out for a while."

"Damn it..." Soulburner muttered, as he ran back to where the others were. "Looks like what Roxy said was true. We're on our own until she and Playmaker's ally in the real world break through the server's defenses."

"Do you think the Shadow may have something to do with this?" Slipstream asked.

"Most likely." Numera theorized, before the quintet felt another massive burst of wind blow through the forest, along with a few tremors in the process. Thus leading Soulburner to return Heatleo to his duel disk while Numera had Final Sigma retreat to her duel disk as all of them ran through the area to see what was going on.

Sure enough, they saw Playmaker fight back against Raguel, the former managing to dodge the latter's attacks before striking back.

"I've been waiting for this, Playmaker." Raguel said, as a blade lock occurred between him and Playmaker. "Roxy and the others joked around as to who would win a duel between you and me. We can now determine that answer once and for all."

"Don't beat around the bush with me, Raguel. You're planning on kidnapping Ai, aren't you?" Playmaker correctly guessed, as he narrowly dodged the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles that shot out of the water towards him. Unfortunately, a few of them wrapped themselves around Playmaker, which allowed Raguel to swing Excalibur Morgan in an upward arc multiple times that released energy at the former. Each attack hit Playmaker as he was sent flying to the dry land behind him before rolling onto the ground in the process. Luckily, the wounds Playmaker received from that attack healed thanks to Ai's algorithm, thus allowing him to stand up seconds later.

"Perceptive as always, Playmaker. That knowledge has certainly helped you for sure." Raguel snarked back, having both praised and taunted Playmaker at the same time.

"If Herald were here, he'd be disappointed with the person you've become." Playmaker stated, before charging forward and managing to evade the Cursed Boundary Layer's attacks, having managed to land a blow on Raguel as a result. "He wouldn't have wanted you to turn into a monster!"

"Yeah? Well, Herald's dead, is he not? The dead can never share their thoughts once they depart from this universe." Raguel countered, before swinging Excalibur Morgan at Playmaker, who was able to dodge the attack and strike back with a full-frontal kick. Though it didn't do much damage, it did just enough to slightly push Raguel back while Playmaker jumped from one shadowy, ribbon-like tentacle to the other in order to dodge their relentless attacks.

After doing so, Playmaker jumped down from one of the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles before bringing down the sword resembling Decode Talker's sword at Raguel, which also pushed him back onto the dry land behind him. In response, more shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles restrained Playmaker as black, red and purple particles merged into Excalibur Morgan, which increased the sword's size once more. Raguel then swung the powered-up Excalibur Morgan at Playmaker, who felt his body move to barely dodge that blow as he used the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles restraining him as a slingshot to retreat on the dry land behind him.

Playmaker grit his teeth in pain before he activated his duel disk, having almost fallen on one knee as he felt Ai's algorithm begin to heal his body once more. Again, his Link Sense and Instinct were definitely helping in surviving this battle. However, it'd take more than words and pure battle to stop Raguel. A duel through their cards would also help in this scenario as well.

"It looks like the duel between Raguel and Playmaker's about to begin." Soulburner stated, he and the others on the slope some distance away from Raguel and Playmaker.

"I thought the battle between those two had already begun. I mean, they've fought each other with swords just now so far, along with using levels of superhuman strength I've never seen before." Tigress said.

"As Playmaker said to me a while back, sometimes, when it comes to solving problems, words aren't enough. Sometimes, it takes a bit more to help someone out." Slipstream recalled. "I have a feeling that deep down inside Raguel, despite having all the power at his fingertips, he'd rather defeat Playmaker in a duel involving their decks than fight all day long in a clash of blades."

"So there's still some bit of goodness within Raguel, then?" Numera asked, hope evident in her tone.

"Maybe, Numera. If anyone can free Raguel from the Shadow, it'll be Playmaker." Blue Maiden assured Numera. You got this, Playmaker. I believe in you, Blue Maiden thought in her mind.

"You wish to settle things with our cards, is that it? I'll gladly oblige by your request." Raguel spoke to Playmaker, as he also activated his duel disk.

"I won't let you capture Ai and Numera, Raguel! I'll also free you from that Shadow as well!" Playmaker vowed.

"In that case, let's see if you have the motivation to back it up." Raguel replied.

"Let's duel!" Raguel and Playmaker shouted at the same time.

Raguel: 4000 LP

Playmaker: 4000 LP

"I will be going first. My turn." Playmaker immediately said. "I activate the Continuous-Spell card, Cynet Codec. Then I summon Proxy Horse from my hand to my field." A blue and white horse with circles on its body, along with a long tail, appeared on Playmaker's field.

Proxy Horse ATK: 1100 DEF: 1100 LV: 4

"I activate Proxy Horse's effect. When it would be used as Link material for the Link Summon of a Cyberse monster, I can also use one monster in my hand as Link material as well."

"Is that so?" Raguel asked back, who raised an eyebrow in curiosity on what Playmaker would bring out next.

"I will now create my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above Playmaker. "The summoning conditions are two effect monsters. I set Proxy Horse on my field, and Firewall Defenser in my hand into the Link Markers!" A silhouette of a red, black and silver dragon with clawed arms and no legs appeared on Playmaker's field beside Proxy Horse, which went into the top arrowhead before Proxy Horse went into the bottom arrowhead.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Code Talker!" A light-blue armoured warrior appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. In the warrior's hands was a long, translucent sword.

Code Talker ATK: 1300 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️

"Cynet Codec's effect now activates!" Playmaker continued. "When I Link Summon a 'Code Talker' monster from my Extra Deck, I can target that monster and add a Cyberse monster with the same attribute from my deck to my hand. However, I can't add other monsters with the same attribute from my deck to my hand with Codec's effect. I target Code Talker, who is a Dark attribute monster. That means I can add the Dark attribute Micro Coder from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

No wonder Playmaker chose to go first. He wants to solidify his field with one of the cards that helped him defeat Bohman, Raguel thought in his mind before a grin appeared on his face. Once Playmaker finds out I've watched his duel against Bohman and know his ultimate end goal, it'll shock him for sure.

"Next, I activate the effect of Firewall Defenser from my Graveyard. When it's used as Link material for the Link Summon of a Cyberse Link monster, I can Special Summon one 'Firewall' monster from my deck with a different name to my field." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck. "From my deck, I Special Summon Firewall Guardian to my field." A blue and white dragon with grey plating on its chest, along with clawed arms and no legs appeared on Playmaker's field.

Firewall Guardian ATK: 100 DEF: 2000 LV: 4

"I will now create my circuit for a second time!" Playmaker declared, as a second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more effect monsters. I set the Link 2 Code Talker and Firewall Guardian into the Link Markers!" Code Talker went into the top and right arrowheads, while Firewall Guardian went into the bottom arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"Link Summon! Emerge! Link 3! Transcode Talker!" A brown and white armoured humanoid warrior appeared on Playmaker's field in the left Extra Monster Zone. On Transcode Talker's back was a folded cannon, ready to be used.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️➡️

"Hey, that's the monster Playmaker used against me." Slipstream recalled. "It allowed him to keep bringing back his Link monsters."

"Which should help in the long run, as one of Playmaker's main strategies is to bring out stronger Link monsters in order to solidify his field." Soulburner added.

"And Cynet Codec will also enable Playmaker to add more monsters that he can use later on in the duel to facilitate his moves." Blue Maiden finished.

"The effects of Cynet Codec and Firewall Guardian activate in sequence." Playmaker began speaking. "First, like earlier, since I Link Summoned a 'Code Talker' monster from my Extra Deck, I can target that monster and add a Cyberse monster with the same attribute from my deck to my hand. I target Transcode Talker, which is an Earth attribute monster. That means I can add the Earth attribute Code Generator from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Second, when Firewall Guardian's used as Link material for the Link Summon of a Cyberse Link monster, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard to my field, but it's banished once it leaves the field. Return to me, Firewall Guardian!" At Playmaker's command, Firewall Guardian reappeared on his field.

Firewall Guardian ATK: 100 DEF: 2000 LV: 4

"Next, I activate Transcode Talker's effect." Playmaker said. "Once per turn, I can Special Summon one 'Code Talker' monster from my Graveyard to a zone he points to. Return, Code Talker." At Playmaker's command, Code Talker reappeared on his field in the Main Monster Zone Transcode Talker pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another.

Code Talker ATK: 1300 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️

"Transcode Talker's second effect not only gives himself and all monsters he's co-linked with 500 attack points, you can no longer target them with card effects. What's more, Code Talker gains 500 attack points for every monster he points to, and he can't be destroyed by battle or card effects while he points to a monster." Both Transcode and Code Talker glowed with energy as their strength went up.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800

Code Talker ATK: 1300 + (500 X 2) = 2800

"I activate the effects of both Micro Coder and Code Generator from my hand." Playmaker stated. "If a Cyberse monster on my field would be used as Link Material for the Link Summon of a 'Code Talker' Link monster, I can also use one of them from my hand as Link material as well."

"Looks like you're not holding back from the start, huh? I'm grateful you're not holding back, Playmaker." Raguel commented with a sneer. "Because I want to defeat you at your best, and only at your best."

Playmaker blinked before speaking. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I want to defeat you at your full power. Nothing more, nothing less." Raguel clarified. "I mean, you really should have set up your field to defend yourself against Go Onizuka's strategies rather than bring out three monsters that would go down within seconds."

"That duel was different, Raguel. I hoped to end the duel quickly in order to ensure Go's safety. Not after what the AI chip did to his body and mind." Playmaker rebutted, only for Raguel to laugh back in response.

"And yet that reason made you not only nearly lose the duel, but Ai as well." Raguel reminded Playmaker. "Want to know something interesting, Playmaker? The thing about crutches is that they hold you back. They prevent you from embracing your full power, especially when they involve an ethical code."

"But without an ethical code, we'd be no better than our enemies." Playmaker narrowed his eyes, angry with the comment Raguel made just now.

"At least humans would be able to think more clearly, Playmaker. More clearly!" Raguel growled back. "I finally have the chance to make things right. To complete the work that my family began a long time ago. The work that Azrael had done in his quest to reach the Root of All Knowledge. If I don't do this, then everyone who suffered, along with the Ignis' deaths would have been for nothing. I can't accept that! I just can't!"

Playmaker frowned after hearing Raguel's retort. As much as he wanted to try and convince Raguel to stand down, such a thing could not happen right now. Not in the current state of mind Raguel was at for the time being. Judging from what Raguel was saying, it was likely that he overheard the conversation in Café Matsuo between Playmaker and the others, thus contributing towards the former's descent into madness.

"Damn. I didn't know Raguel had all of this pain stored up in his body." Soulburner commented.

"Why didn't he talk to someone to help him get through it?" Tigress asked.

"Raguel did talk to us so we can help him get through the revelations regarding his family, Tigress. Though they haven't fully worked." Slipstream told Tigress.

"But once the Shadow's eliminated, we can get through to him. I know it." Numera stated, with the others nodding in agreement.

"Numera's right, guys. The duel's just begun, and as long as Playmaker plays his cards right, he'll be able to win." Blue Maiden spoke up in support to Numera's statement, as she and the others looked back down at the duel.

"I will not be stopped through words, Playmaker. If you wish to defeat me, you must do so with your cards." Raguel firmly told Playmaker, intent on ending their conversation so they can resume the duel.

As if on cue, Playmaker grit his teeth before gesturing upwards, having refocused his attention back at the duel. "I will now create my circuit for a third time!" A third Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters. I set the Link 2 Code Talker, and Code Generator in my hand as Link Material!" A silhouette of a miniature brown and white armoured humanoid warrior with two guns appeared beside Code Talker, which went into the top arrowhead while Code Talker went into the left and right arrowheads.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Excode Talker!" A green armored humanoid giant with shields on his wrists appeared on Playmaker's field in the Main Monster Zone Transcode Talker pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another.

Excode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬆️➡️

Excode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800

"The effects of Code Generator, Cynet Codec and Excode Talker now activate in sequence." Playmaker informed Raguel. "First, when Code Generator is used as Link material from my hand or field for the Link Summon of a 'Code Talker' Link monster, I can send a Cyberse monster with 1200 attack points or less from my deck to my Graveyard. I send Dotscaper from my deck to my Graveyard." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he took and sent to his Graveyard.

"Second, like before, because I Link Summoned a 'Code Talker' Link monster, I can target that monster and add a Cyberse monster with the same attribute from my deck to my hand. I target Excode Talker, who is a Wind attribute monster. That means I can add the Wind attribute Code Exporter from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Third, when Excode Talker is Link Summoned, I can choose unused Main Monster Zones on your field for every monster in the Extra Monster Zone, and you can't use them while he's on the field. The Main Monster Zone I choose is the one Transcode Talker is pointing to on your field. Grasp Zone!" Excode Talker formed a ball of green energy and flung them at the Main Monster Zone Transcode Talker was pointing to on Raguel's field, which made it fizzle for a few seconds before dissipating. "Also, monsters Excode Talker points to gain 500 attack points, and can no longer be destroyed by card effects." Transcode Talker glowed as his strength increased.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2800 + 500 = 3300

Damn it! Since Playmaker chose the Main Monster Zone that Transcode Talker was pointing to on my field, that means I can't Link Summon my monsters and acquire that attack boost, Raguel realized in his mind. While it was a clever move, it was only the beginning of the duel, and Raguel would find a way to counter back in response.

"Fourth, when Dotscaper is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard to my field!" Playmaker added, as a green and white monster made out of digital bricks appeared on Playmaker's field.

Dotscaper ATK: 0 DEF: 2100 LV: 1

"I will now create my circuit for a fourth time!" A fourth Link Portal appeared above Playmaker. "The summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters. I set Dotscaper from my field, and using Micro Coder's effect, Micro Coder from my hand into the Link Markers!" A silhouette of a miniature light-blue armoured warrior that carried a sword appeared beside Dotscaper, which went into the left arrowhead before Dotscaper went into the right arrowhead.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Code Talker Inverted!" A light-purple armored warrior appeared on Playmaker's field in the Main Monster Zone Excode Talker pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another. In the warrior's hands was a silver lance.

Code Talker Inverted ATK: 1300 LINK-2 ⬅️➡️

Code Talker Inverted ATK: 1300 + 500 = 1800

"The effects of Micro Coder, Cynet Codec and Code Talker Inverted activate in sequence." Playmaker said. "First, since Micro Coder was sent from my hand or field as Link Material for the Link Summon of a 'Code Talker' Link Monster, I can add one 'Cynet' Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand. I add Cynet Optimization from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Second, just like earlier, because I Link Summoned a 'Code Talker' Link monster, I can target that monster and add a Cyberse monster with the same attribute from my deck to my hand. I target Code Talker Inverted, who is a Light attribute monster. That means I can add the Light attribute Cyberse Gadget from my deck to my hand." Another card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Third, when Code Talker Inverted is Link Summoned, I can Special Summon one Cyberse monster from my hand to a Main Monster Zone it points to." Playmaker continued. "Using Code Talker Inverted's effect, I Special Summon Code Exporter from my hand to my field." A green-armored gryphon with wings of translucent green energy, along with several yellow orbs on its body appeared on Playmaker's field in the Main Monster Zone Code Talker Inverted pointed to.

Code Exporter ATK: 500 DEF: 2300 LV: 5

"From there, I activate the Continuous-Spell card, Cynet Optimization. Once per turn, I can Normal Summon one Cyberse monster. I summon Cyberse Gadget from my hand to my field!" A white and blue mechanical humanoid with red shoulder pads appeared on Playmaker's field. It had a silver data card attached to its left arm.

Cyberse Gadget ATK: 1400 DEF: 300 LV: 4

"When Cyberse Gadget is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target one Level 2 or lower monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it to my field in exchange for negating its effects. I target Dotscaper in my Graveyard, and Special Summon it back to my field!" Soon, Dotscaper reappeared on Playmaker's field in defense position.

Dotscaper ATK: 0 DEF: 2100 LV: 1

"I will now create my circuit for a fifth time!" Playmaker said, as a fifth Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters. I set Code Exporter, Cyberse Gadget, and Firewall Guardian into the Link Markers!" Code Exporter went into the top arrowhead, Cyberse Gadget went into the left arrowhead, and Firewall Guardian went into the bottom arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Shootingcode Talker!" A blue humanoid warrior with golden outlines on her body appeared on Playmaker's field in the Main Monster Zone Code Talker Inverted pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another. On her back was a pair of wings, and a compressed bow was attached to her left arm.

Shootingcode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬆️⬇️

"Since Firewall Guardian left the field, it's banished." Playmaker informed Raguel. "But moving that aside, the effects of Code Exporter, Cyberse Gadget, and Cynet Codec activate in sequence. First, since Code Exporter sent from my hand or field as Link Material for the Link Summon of a 'Code Talker' Link monster, I can target one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster in my Graveyard, and since it was used on the field as Link material, I can Special Summon it to my field in exchange for negating its effects. Return to me, Micro Coder." At Playmaker's command, Micro Coder appeared on his field.

Micro Coder ATK: 300 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Second, when Cyberse Gadget is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Gadget' token to my field." A small, white machine with prongs on its sides appeared on Playmaker's field in defense position.

Gadget Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 2

"Third, like earlier, because I Link Summoned a 'Code Talker' Link monster, I can target that monster and add a Cyberse monster with the same attribute from my deck to my hand." Playmaker reminded Raguel. "I target Shootingcode Talker, who is a Water attribute monster. That means I can add the Water attribute Code Radiator from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Wait a minute. Don't tell me you're-?" Raguel began speaking, as he looked at Playmaker's field before double checking it using his duel disk. After doing so, he gasped in pure shock, having realized what Playmaker was doing.

"Hang on a second. Is Playmaker actually doing what I think he's doing?" Soulburner inquired.

"Now that you mention it, I think he is." Blue Maiden realized, having concluded the same thing Soulburner did upon looking at the duel field.

"It seems you've figured it out, Raguel, so allow me to confirm it for you." Playmaker replied. "I activate the effect of Code Radiator from my hand. If a Cyberse monster on my field would be used as Link Material for the Link Summon of a 'Code Talker' Link monster, I can also use this card from my hand as Link material as well."

"Tch." Raguel gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes, knowing what will come next.

"I will now create my circuit for a sixth time!" A sixth Link Portal appeared above Playmaker. "The summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters. I set Micro Coder and the Gadget token on my field, as well as Code Radiator from my hand as Link material into the Link Markers!" A silhouette of a blue humanoid serpent with arms and a tail instead of legs appeared on Playmaker's field beside Micro Coder and the Gadget token. Micro Coder went into the top arrowhead, the Gadget token went into the bottom arrowhead, and Code Radiator went into the bottom-left arrowhead, turning all three arrows red in the process.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Encode Talker!" A warrior in bright blue and gold armor appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone, resulting in both him and Shootingcode Talker being co-linked with one another. In his right hand, he carried a large shield.

Encode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️↘️

All five monsters glowed with pure energy as they let out a growl, hellbent on not just ending the duel as quickly as possible, but to destroy the Cursed Boundary Layer as well. It was as though the Cyberse monsters felt the pain and rage of those who were killed by the Cursed Boundary Layer and wanted to avenge them.

"No way..." Slipstream muttered, shocked at what he was seeing right now.

"Holy shit." Tigress said, who was also surprised at what she was looking at on the duel field.

"Did Playmaker just-?" Numera began asking.

"It looks like he did, Numera, and in one turn too." Blue Maiden answered with a smile on her face.

"Extra Link. With this and Excode Talker's effects limiting the number of monsters Raguel can summon on his field, Playmaker's more than prepared for what will come next." Soulburner finished.

"I'd normally use Code Radiator's effect, but because you have no monsters on your field, there's no point in doing so." Playmaker told Raguel. "Instead, I activate the Spell card, Link Treasure Ticket!" The card showed Decode Talker and three cards flying away from it. "I can target one Link monster I control, and draw cards equal to that monster's Link rating. In exchange, I must send an equal number of cards from the top of my deck to my Graveyard. I target Transcode Talker, who is a Link 3 monster. That means I can draw the top three cards of my deck, and send three cards from the top of my deck to my Graveyard." After Playmaker drew the top three cards of his deck, he took three more cards from the top of his deck and briefly looked at them before sending each one to his Graveyard.

"You've added a lot of cards from your deck to your hand this turn, Playmaker. Is a part of you afraid of the threat I pose to this universe, perhaps?" Raguel inquired.

"That's not it at all, Raguel. If I intend to stop you, then I need to be prepared for anything and everything you intend to throw at me." Playmaker replied. "I Set one card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn! I draw!" Raguel immediately said, as he drew the top card of his deck.

"Continuous-Trap, activate! Cynet Blockade!" Playmaker interrupted, as he gestured to his face-down card. The card showed a translucent barrier being formed from particles that not only pushed Rousing Hydradrive Monarch and an army of Coolant, Grand, Flow, and Burn Hydradrives back on a battlefield, but also protected Decode Talker and an army of Cyberse creatures as well as he led the charge against their enemies. "When this card is activated, I can target one Cyberse Link monster I control, and while the targeted monster's on the field, you can't Special Summon monsters from your Extra Deck whose attack points are less than or equal to the targeted monster's original attack points. I target Transcode Talker, who is a Link 3 monster. That means you can no longer Special Summon monsters from your Extra Deck whose attack points are 2300 or less!"

"What?!" Raguel gasped out of pure shock after hearing this information. That meant a great majority of his Extra Deck was locked down thanks to Cynet Blockade!

"I also activate Cynet Blockade's second effect. If I control a Link 3 or higher Cyberse Link monster, I can not only shuffle a Cyberse monster from my Graveyard back into my deck, I also gain life points equal to its attack points as well. I shuffle Code Radiator back into my deck, whose attack points are 1600. That means I gain 1600 life points." A card popped out of Playmaker's Graveyard, which he took and shuffled back into his deck. Afterwards, he was surrounded in a yellow aura that increased his life points.

Playmaker: 4000 + 1600 = 5600 LP

"That's brilliant! Playmaker just basically blocked out a great majority of Raguel's Extra Deck!" Blue Maiden exclaimed.

"And combined with how Excode Talker's blocked one of Raguel's Main Monster Zones, his options have been reduced even more!" Tigress finished.

"But Raguel can still Ritual Summon, which is something Playmaker has to watch out for." Soulburner pointed out to Blue Maiden and Tigress.

"And he can also Pendulum Summon as well." Slipstream added.

"If anything, Raguel's going to find a way around that card." Numera sadly commented, knowing that the duel has obviously just begun.

"Impressive little card, Playmaker. But that's only a minor roadblock against someone such as myself." Raguel stated. "By sending a 'Cyreath' Link monster from my Extra Deck to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Cyreath Teferi from my hand to my field. As such, I send Cyreath Erymanthian Boar from my Extra Deck to my Graveyard." Soon, an elderly man wearing a long-sleeved, hoodless cassock appeared on Raguel's field. He had white, spiky hair, along with two glowing horns on the sides of his head that curved upwards. He also had horn-like appendages attached to his back that curved upwards, which emitted wings of energy tendrils.

Cyreath Teferi ATK: 3000 DEF: 1500 LV: 8 Scale: 1

"Hehehe. Prepare for the end, human." Teferi seethed.

"When Teferi is Special Summoned by his own effect, the effects of all cards on your field are negated until the end of this turn!" Raguel added, a grin evident on his face. "Oh, and in case you were thinking of activating your face-down card, know that you can't activate cards or effects in response to his activation if I sent a Link-3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster to the Graveyard by his effect."

"Damn it..." Playmaker muttered. That meant he couldn't use his face-down card for the rest of this turn. What's more, the effects of his monsters would be negated, making them weaker until the End Phase as well.

"Go, Unholy Desecration!" Energy was blasted out of Teferi's wings, which drained the energy of all of Playmaker's cards on his field, much to his disdain.

Transcode Talker ATK: 3300 – (500 X 2) = 2300

Excode Talker ATK: 2800 – 500 = 2300

Code Talker Inverted ATK: 1800 – 500 = 1300

"Great! Just great! With all of Playmaker's cards having had their effects negated, all of Raguel's options have been opened up again!" Slipstream cursed.

"Which means Raguel can bring out his monsters from his Extra Deck." Tigress seethed as well.

"The worst part is that Playmaker can't activate his face-down card, thus limiting his options on surviving the turn." Blue Maiden added, a grimace evident on her face.

"And with your monster's effects negated, along with the effects of your other pesky cards, that means I can bring out monsters from my Extra Deck." Raguel said. "I activate the Continuous-Spell card, Cyreath Domain Tartarus." The card showed a massive, dark and gloomy pit surrounded by a wall of bronze, with a structure of a castle hovering just above it. Looking down at it on an island nearby was Cyreaths Achilles, Medusa, Circe, and Super Orion, hellbent on journeying inside the pit to rescue their comrades. "While this card's on my field, 'Cyreath' monsters I control gain 300 attack and defense points, and can no longer be targeted or destroyed by your card effects." Teferi was surrounded with energy as his strength increased.

Cyreath Teferi ATK: 3000 + 300 = 3300 DEF: 1500 + 300 = 1800

"I summon Cyreath Pandora from my hand to my field." A girl in her pre-teens with red eyes and shoulder-length blond hair appeared on Raguel's field. She wore a white and blue Greek-styled dress, as well as sandals on her feet.

Cyreath Pandora ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500 LV: 4 Scale: 0

Cyreath Pandora ATK: 1500 + 300 = 1800 DEF: 1500 + 300 = 1800

"You're going to die soon, and I'll enjoy every minute of it." Pandora commented, a sneer evident on her face.

"What have you and the others done?! Are you not aware of the suffering this Shadow has brought upon all Cyberse creatures?!" Transcode Talker exclaimed.

"That thing murdered our kind for eons, yet you allow this vile thing to twist your minds and souls?! How disgusting." Encode Talker added, much to the surprise of both Playmaker and Raguel.

For Playmaker, hearing his Cyberse monsters speak reminded him of the first time it occurred. Specifically, during his duel against Kusanagi, where Decode Talker Extended assured Playmaker that he'd take the burden of the final attack. But it seemed that Playmaker's monsters were now gaining more sentience to the point where they could talk. After all, it started with Linkuriboh, so it was only a matter of time that this would occur.

"Embracing the Shadow's strength was the only way for Raguel to acquire the power needed so he complete his task without anything holding him back." Teferi said.

"Yet it's costed you and the others your souls in the process." Shootingcode Talker pointed out in response.

"So what? It was only a matter of time for Raguel to realize that he had to cast aside everything in order to achieve his task." Pandora countered back.

"But nevertheless, what you're doing is purely wrong. Still, your souls and minds haven't been fully lost yet. We will free you from whatever the Shadow's has done to both you and Raguel." Excode Talker replied.

"Go ahead and try," both Pandora and Teferi taunted at the same time.

"Enough talk! Let's resume the duel, shall we? When Pandora is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one 'Cyreath' monster and one 'Cyreath' Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand. I add Cyreath Alastor and Cyreath Calamity from my deck to my hand." Raguel decided, as two cards popped out of his deck, which he took and added to his hand. "In addition, I activate the effect of Cyreath Ouroboros from my hand. If it's in my hand or Graveyard while I control a 'Cyreath' monster, I can Special Summon this card to my field." A black and red draconic serpent with a cyan gem on its head appeared on Raguel's field.

Cyreath Ouroboros ATK: 800 DEF: 1600 LV: 3

Cyreath Ouroboros ATK: 800 + 300 = 1100 DEF: 1600 + 300 = 1900

"That's another of the cards you've made, hasn't it?" Playmaker guessed, which made Raguel frown in response.

"It certainly is, Playmaker. Consider it one of the ways I'm evolving as a duelist." Raguel answered. "Appear, the circuit showing the highest mountain!" A Link Portal appeared above Raguel. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Cyreath' monsters. I set Cyreath Teferi, Pandora, and Ouroboros into the Link Markers!" Teferi went into the left arrowhead, Pandora went into the top arrowhead, and Ouroboros went into the right arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Cyreath Asclepius!" A man who had long, silver hair with dark-red streaks at the end that was tied up in a ponytail, appeared on Raguel's field in the Main Monster Zone Encode Talker pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another. Several pieces of his hair covered his forehead just above his green-colored eyes, the two longer ones having crossed left and right to encircle underneath them. For his attire, it consisted of a black, doctoral robe coat with golden lines running down from the top to the bottom. On the sides of the coat were two large violet circles, each one having a golden button in the middle. The forearm portion of the coat had glowing, cyan lines on each side of it. He carried a large rod in his hands, which had a mechanical serpent orbiting around it. Strapped to his sides were sheathes containing daggers.

Cyreath Asclepius ATK: 2500 LINK-3 ⬅️⬆️➡️

Cyreath Asclepius ATK: 2500 + 300 = 2800

"The pain will be brief, but rest assured, your defeat will relieve you of it." Asclepius said.

"Indeed, Asclepius. Once Playmaker's defeated, his pain will end." Raguel agreed, before gesturing to his field. "The effects of Teferi, Pandora, and Ouroboros activate in sequence. First, when Teferi's used as material for the Ritual, Link, Fusion, or Synchro Summon of a 'Cyreath' monster, or detached as Xyz Material by the effect of a 'Cyreath' Xyz monster I can shuffle one 'Cyreath' Link monster back to my Extra Deck to Special Summon him from my Extra Deck or Graveyard to my field. I shuffle Erymanthian Boar, and Special Summon Teferi from my Extra Deck to my field!" Raguel decided, as he took a card from his Graveyard and shuffled it into his Extra Deck. Soon after, Teferi reappeared on Raguel's field in one of the two Main Monster Zones Asclepius pointed to.

Cyreath Teferi ATK: 3000 DEF: 1500 LV: 8 Scale: 1

Cyreath Teferi ATK: 3000 + 300 = 3300 DEF: 1500 + 300 = 1800

"Second, when Pandora's used as Link material for the Link Summon of a 'Cyreath' Link monster, I can Special Summon her from my Extra Deck or Graveyard back to my field. Now rise from my Extra Deck, Pandora." At Raguel's command, Pandora reappeared on his field in the second Main Monster Zone Asclepius pointed to.

Cyreath Pandora ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500 LV: 4 Scale: 0

Cyreath Pandora ATK: 1500 + 300 = 1800 DEF: 1500 + 300 = 1800

"Third, when Ouroboros is used as material for the Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon of a 'Cyreath' monster, I can have all monsters you control lose 500 attack points until the End Phase." Raguel added, as a silhouette of Ouroboros appeared before releasing a hiss of energy at all the monsters on Playmaker's field, which made them wince in pain inn response, their strength having dropped temporarily.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 – 500 = 1800

Excode Talker ATK: 2300 – 500 = 1800

Code Talker Inverted ATK: 1300 – 500 = 800

Shootingcode Talker ATK: 2300 – 500 = 1800

Encode Talker ATK: 2300 – 500 = 1800

"Hang on a minute. Raguel actually made new cards for his deck?" Numera questioned.

"Such a thing should be impossible. Only card designers, along with the Ignis can make new cards." Blue Maiden said.

"When we found out, it was shocking for us too. At the rate Raguel's mind is going, he could be just as knowledgeable as Dr. Kogami. Hell, he could even be as knowledgeable as the Ignis." Slipstream commented.

"It's something neither of us wants to see come to reality." Soulburner stated.

"Ditto." Tigress agreed. What was going on right now greatly disturbed her, as she could never anticipate Raguel becoming an enemy. Soulburner and Slipstream were definitely right about one thing. If Raguel couldn't be stopped now…

...then things would only get worse from here.

"I activate the Spell card, Cyreath Grand Treasure." Raguel said. "When this card is activated, I can normally draw two cards and shuffle two 'Cyreath' cards from my hand into my deck in exchange. However, if I control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' Link monster, I can draw three cards instead before sending one 'Cyreath' card from my deck to my Graveyard. I send Cyreath Wandering Soul from my deck to my Graveyard." After Raguel drew the top three cards of his deck, another card popped out of his deck, which he took and added to his hand. "I activate the effect of Wandering Soul from my Graveyard. By banishing it from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Cyreath Wanderer' token to my field." A small ball of mist in the form of a ghost appeared on Raguel's field in defense position.

Cyreath Wanderer Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"I activate the Ritual Spell card, Cyreath Calamity. This card lets me tribute 'Cyreath' monsters on my field or in my hand whose total levels equal or exceed the Level of the 'Cyreath' Ritual monster I'm summoning from my hand. I'm also allowed to banish 'Cyreath' monsters from my Graveyard as well for the Ritual Summon!"

"That's not good..." Playmaker quietly muttered. Just when I've impeded Raguel's progress, he manages to keep going as though it never occurred, he cursed in his mind.

"Of course it's not good for you, Playmaker." Raguel replied. "I tribute Cyreath Pandora and the Wanderer token on my field, and banish Ouroboros from my Graveyard." Within seconds, a black hole with eight purple flames appeared on Raguel's field, along with Pandora, the Wanderer token, and Ouroboros. All three monsters disintegrated into light and entered into the center of the black hole, which unleashed a burst of purple light.

"Human scorned by the rest of mankind! Break free from your shackles, and punish humanity for its transgressions! Keep avenging until retribution has been fully unleashed! Ritual Summon! Come before us, Level 8! Cyreath Alastor!" A black-armored knight with multicolored shapes resembling eyes, a spiked plume on his helmet, and with dark-steel plates on his arms appeared on Raguel's field. Strapped to his sides were a pair of jagged, chained blades, each one having a demonic red-orange glyph pattern on them. Attached to his back was a long sword with a massive blade, as well as a set of arms that had large hands, each one having three claws.

Cyreath Alastor ATK: 0 DEF: 3000 LV: 8 Scale: 9

Cyreath Alastor ATK: 0 + 300 = 300 DEF: 3000 + 300 = 3300

"Vengeance will be mine, and you will pay for your wrongdoings." Alastor screamed, hellbent on unleashing his wrath on the person before him.

"Get ready, Playmaker. Because the effects of Calamity, Alastor and Pandora activate in sequence." Raguel began speaking. "First, since Calamity was used to Ritual Summon Alastor, your life points are halved!"

"Halved?!" Playmaker repeated, who was caught off guard by what he just heard as a black hole appeared above him. Soon, the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles erupted from the lake, which Playmaker dodged in an attempt to prevent himself from being restrained. Unfortunately, one of the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles grabbed Playmaker before lightning fired out of the black hole, which caused him to wince as his life points were halved.

Playmaker: 5600 / 2 = 2800 LP

The shadowy, ribbon-like tentacle then threw a stunned Playmaker at Raguel, who swung Excalibur Morgan in an upwards arc numerous times before slashing the former several times. However, Playmaker felt his body move to evade most of them, thus resulting in him suffering minor wounds. Regardless, the combined impacts sent Playmaker flying back to the dry surface of land behind him, where he slowly got back up on his feet seconds later, Ai's algorithm managing to heal those wounds in the process.

"You should save your shock for what's about to happen next, Playmaker. Because when Alastor is Ritual Summoned, I can banish one monster from each of our Graveyards and/or our Extra Decks, and he gains attack points equal to the combined attack points of the monsters banished by this effect. The best part is that you can't activate cards or effects in response to his activation!" Raguel revealed, much to Playmaker's further horror. "I don't need to look through your Extra Deck, as I know which monster to banish." He narrowed his eyes behind his visor. "I banish Firewall Dragon Darkfluid from your Extra Deck, and Cyreath Hades, Lord of the Underworld from my Extra Deck. That means Alastor gains 6000 attack points! Verg Avesta!" Alastor let out an animalistic scream as his strength increased.

Cyreath Alastor ATK: 300 + 6000 = 6300

"Impossible! How did you know I had Firewall Dragon Darkfluid?!" Playmaker demanded, only for Raguel to let out a laugh in response.

"I updated your profile before we dueled, and now have knowledge about your deck's new tricks. Now you can't bring out your ultimate monster." Raguel smirked after answering Playmaker's question. "Last but not least, when Pandora is used as material for the Ritual Summon of a 'Cyreath' Ritual monster, all battle damage you take is doubled for the rest of this turn."

"Tch." Playmaker grit his teeth. This wasn't good for him at all, as not only did he lose his strongest monster, Raguel also made his field stronger as well.

"Wait a minute. Raguel not only brought out a Ritual Pendulum monster, he also halved Playmaker's life points and got rid of a strong Link monster in his arsenal?" Tigress questioned. Just how much more powerful did Raguel become due to being corrupted by the Shadow, she wondered in her mind.

"Whatever Firewall Dragon Darkfluid is, it may just be Playmaker's strongest monster." Slipstream hypothesized.

"And Raguel banished it to avoid any potential roadblocks in the duel." Soulburner seethed.

"Which means any monster in the Extra Deck and Graveyard is fair game." Numera quietly stated. If Raguel had banished Final Sigma from Numera's Extra Deck, she'd be shocked at what he had did. Hell, it would have very likely break her spirit as a result.

"Playmaker has a plan to survive. I know it. He won't let such a thing break his spirit." Blue Maiden told the others, intent on assuring them that Playmaker will survive. Sure enough, it worked, as the others nodded in agreement after hearing what Blue Maiden had just said.

"I also activate Tartarus' second effect. Once per turn, I can send one 'Cyreath' Link monster from my Extra Deck to my Graveyard to Special Summon one 'Alpha/Mode' Link monster from my Extra Deck whose name includes the tributed Monster's name from my Extra Deck, and if I do, I can treat it as having been Special Summoned by the effect of 'Alpha Mode Activate'. Using Tartarus' effect, I send Cyreath Atalanta from my Extra Deck to my Graveyard." Raguel decided, as a silhouette of a sharp-eyed huntress who wore beautiful verdant green clothing and had emerald eyes appeared on Raguel's field. She had long and unkempt hair, which was green at the front and different blond styles at the back. In her left hand, she carried a jet-black bow. Within several seconds, a massive portal that had the symbols of Olympus on it appeared above him before Atalanta jumped into it, causing it to glow a bright light.

"Huntress pushed to her breaking point! Don the belt of the Calydonian Boar, and avenge the fallen children! Alpha Mode Summon! Link 3! Cyreath Atalanta/Alpha Mode!" A sharp-eyed huntress who wore beautiful black and white clothing with dark-blue outlines and had yellow eyes appeared on Raguel's field at the Main Monster Zone Asclepius pointed to. She had long and unkempt hair, which was light pink at the front and white at the back. She also wore a set of black, animal like armor on her legs, chest, and arms, each having pink cracks on them. Strapped to her right arm was the head of the Calydonian Boar, which had yellow eyes and two curved tusks on it, blood dripping from its mouth.

Cyreath Atalanta/Alpha Mode ATK: 2900 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️➡️

Cyreath Atalanta/Alpha Mode ATK: 2900 + 300 = 3200

"Now you're finished..." Atalanta/Alpha Mode muttered, having grit her teeth at Playmaker.

"When Atalanta/Alpha Mode is Special Summoned using 'Alpha Mode Activate', you take 500 points of damage for every card on your field!" Raguel announced. "And you can't activate cards or effects in response to her activation as well! Since you have ten cards on your field, that means you take 5000 points of damage, Playmaker. Or to sum it up, this duel's over. Tauropolos Catastrophe!" A jet-black bow made of pure energy appeared in Atalanta/Alpha Mode's hand before she fired a single arrow to the sky, which caused a storm of dark arrows to fall down from the sky and head towards Playmaker!

"No, this duel's not over, Raguel. Not by a long shot!" Playmaker countered back. "If I would take damage by battle or card effect, I can banish Cyberse Diffractor from my Graveyard instead!" A silhouette of a large, white and blue robot that had digital hexagons on its body appeared on Playmaker's field before releasing a soundwave of energy from its body, which turned the storm of arrows that rained down on the ground into particles. "Furthermore, the turn this effect of Cyberse Diffractor is used, Cyberse monsters I control can't be destroyed by battle, and any further damage I take is reduced by 500 for each Cyberse Link monster I control. As I control five Cyberse Link monsters, that means the damage I would take is reduced by a total of 2500."

"That's amazing! Now any major damage Playmaker would take is massively reduced!" Soulburner exclaimed.

"It's not just battle damage, Soulburner. Any effect damage Playmaker would take is also reduced big time as well." Slipstream said.

"And with his monsters being protected from destruction by battle this turn, that means Playmaker will be able to maintain his field." Tigress realized.

"Even with Pandora's effect doubling battle damage since she was used as material for the Ritual Summon, it still won't be enough for Raguel to win this turn." Numera stated.

"Thus allowing Playmaker to survive and strike back once his turn comes." Blue Maiden finished.

Raguel narrowed his eyes in anger, having saw that Playmaker kept himself in the duel. Somehow, Playmaker anticipated that this would happen. That's why he created the Extra Link on his turn, which means I won't be able to finish him off this turn if I don't play my cards right, he angrily realized in his mind. "You humans are persevering, I'll give you that. Still, you're only delaying the inevitable. Battle! Cyreath Atalanta/Alpha Mode attacks Code Talker Inverted! And just a heads up, not only can she attack all monsters you control once each, she inflicts double battle damage as well. And when you take into account Pandora's effect of doubling that battle damage, that means Atalanta/Alpha Mode will infect quadruple battle damage!"

"What?" Playmaker gasped after hearing this information. While he managed to reduce the damage, due to Atalanta/Alpha Mode's effect, he'd still be taking a massive amount of it if he wasn't careful.

"Tauropolos Skia Thermokrasia!" Atalanta/Alpha Mode charged forward towards Code Talker Inverted, dark energy surrounding her before she jumped high into the air, intent on destroying the latter and inflicting damage to Playmaker.

"I activate the effect of Prohibit Snake from my hand." Playmaker said. "At the start of the damage step, when a Cyberse Link monster I control battles a monster you control, I can send this card from my hand to my Graveyard to return that monster back to your hand. But since Atalanta/Alpha Mode is a Link monster, she goes back to your Extra Deck instead."

"What?!" Raguel exclaimed, as a yellow, mechanical snake with two big blue eyes wrapped itself around Atalanta/Alpha Mode, who screamed before she turned into particles that went back into Raguel's Extra Deck. "You may have evaded Atalanta/Alpha Mode's wrath, but let's see if you can survive the power of my other monsters. The battle continues! Cyreath Alastor attacks Code Talker Inverted! Unrelenting Fury!" Alastor swung down the chained blades towards at Code Talker Inverted, who blocked them before the latter's set of arms with large hands on his back grabbed the large sword attached to him.

"I activate the effect of Backup Supporter from my Graveyard." Playmaker said. "When a Cyberse Link monster I control battles a monster you control, I can banish this card to shuffle that monster back into my Extra Deck, and then Special Summon a Cyberse Link monster from my Extra Deck with the same Link rating to my field."

"Tch." Raguel grit his teeth. That must have been the second of the three cards he sent to his Graveyard through Link Treasure Ticket's effect, he angrily deduced in his mind. Along with Cyberse Diffractor, what other card was in Playmaker's Graveyard thanks to Link Treasure Ticket's effect?

"I shuffle Code Talker Inverted back into my Extra Deck, and Special Summon Protocol Gardna from my Extra Deck to my field!" A silhouette of a woman with green hair and white clothing that had light-green lines on it appeared on Playmaker's field, who released a barrier of particles from her hand in response to Alastor's attack, causing him to bounce off of it and return to Raguel's field seconds later. After doing so, she fired particles out of her hand that surrounded Code Talker Inverted, causing him to return to Playmaker's Extra Deck. Soon, a green, orange and light-brown robotic humanoid that had a red visor appeared on Playmaker's field in the Main Monster Zone Excode Talker and Shootingcode Talker pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another. Strapped to its back were gears that had torpedoes attached to them.

Protocol Gardna ATK: 1000 LINK-2 ⬅️➡️

"In addition, for the rest of the turn, any battle damage I would take from battles involving the Special Summoned Cyberse Link monster is reduced to zero. And thanks to Protocol Gardna's effect, the first time it would be destroyed by battle, it isn't destroyed, and I take no battle damage from that battle. What's more, you can't target monsters Protocol Gardna points to for attacks." Playmaker revealed.

"So my attacks are practically useless..." Raguel realized. Thanks to Protocol Gardna, he couldn't attack Shootingcode Talker nor Excode Talker, and even if he wanted to, Playmaker wouldn't take any damage thanks to Cyberse Diffractor's effect of reducing the damage by 2500 this turn. Combined with Backup Supporter's effect, that meant Protocol Gardna was protected as well. While Playmaker would survive this turn, there was something Raguel can do to at least put the former at a disadvantage. "The battle continues! Cyreath Asclepius attacks Transcode Talker! Fraught Infection!" Asclepius fired red, contagious energy from his rod at Transcode Talker, who survived the attack with no harm whatsoever. The explosion that occurred seconds later washed over Playmaker, having took no damage at all.

"I'm assuming that there's more to what you did just now regarding your monster's attack, am I correct, Raguel?" Playmaker guessed.

"You're correct, Playmaker. I activate Asclepius' effect." Raguel responded. "At the end of the damage step, after he battles, I can shuffle cards you control into your deck and/or your Extra Deck up to the number of monsters used for his Link Summon. What's more, I gain 800 life points for each card I shuffled back into your deck and/or Extra Deck by this effect. Since I used three monsters, that means I can shuffle up to three cards."

Playmaker narrowed his eyes. Given how Raguel realized that he can't inflict any more damage to me, he's planning on reducing my options so I can't make a comeback, he deduced in his mind.

"I shuffle Transcode Talker, Excode Talker, and Shootingcode Talker back into your Extra Deck. Fraught Restoration!" Asclepius raised his arms high into the air, which caused torrents of red energy to surround Transcode Talker, Excode Talker, and Shootingcode Talker before shredding them into particles that returned to his deck and Extra Deck. The red energy went into Asclepius' rod before flowing over to Raguel, whose life points was increased.

Raguel: 4000 + (800 X 3) = 6400 LP

"And since the targeted monster is no longer on your field, that means Cynet Blockade is sent to your Graveyard." Raguel said, as the card turned into particles. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn, which means the effects of Teferi and Ouroboros ends, and your monsters regain their strength." Encode Talker was surrounded in a green aura that rejuvenated him of the pain he experienced earlier.

Encode Talker ATK: 1800 + 500 = 2300

My two face-down cards, along with Alastor's effect, will ensure that Playmaker's moves are put to a halt on his turn, Raguel thought in his mind. And should he add cards from his deck to his hand, he'll pay the price for it.

"Even though Playmaker survived, he still lost a majority of his monsters. Only Protocol Gardna and Encode Talker are left on his field." Blue Maiden said.

"And Raguel somehow broke through Playmaker's Extra Link like it was nothing." Tigress cursed.

"With the right cards and strategy, anything's possible, Tigress." Slipstream commented.

"The good news is that Teferi's effect has ended, which means Playmaker can use his cards once again." Soulburner pointed out, the others nodding in agreement.

"It is good indeed." Numera agreed.

"My turn! I draw!" Playmaker said, as he drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the effect of Cynet Exclusion from my Graveyard." A silhouette of a card appeared, which showed a fading Decode Talker that threw Link Bumper forward with his left hand. "By banishing this card from my Graveyard, I can draw two cards from the top of my deck." He drew the top two cards of his deck seconds later.

"That wasn't wise, Playmaker. I activate Asclepius' second effect." Raguel interrupted. "Once per turn, during either of our turns, when you add a card from your deck to your hand, except during the Draw Phase, you take 1000 points of damage. Fraught Constriction!" The mechanical serpent orbiting around Asclepius' rod grew in size before charging forward with such speed that it emerged behind Playmaker and constricted him using its tail, which made the latter wince as his life points dropped.

Playmaker: 2800 – 1000 = 1800 LP

"I activate the effect of Scrypton from my hand. By banishing a Cyberse monster from my Graveyard with a different name, I can Special Summon Scrypton from my hand to my field. I banish Dotscaper!" Soon, a digital, humanoid being wearing a robotic suit with green lines running over it appeared on Playmaker's field. Inside the glass helmet on its head was a small brain with eyes.

Scrypton ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500 LV: 5

He's planning to return Firewall Dragon Darkfluid back to his Extra Deck, Raguel realized in his mind, as he gestured to his face-down card. "Trap card, activate! Cyreath Eradication! When you activate a card effect or summon a monster, I can negate the effect or summon and send it to your Graveyard. The best part is that you can't activate cards or effects in response to this card's activation! So say goodbye to Scrypton!" A blade of energy headed towards Scrypton, which turned it into particles.

"You may have got rid of Scrypton, but I can still use Dotscaper's second effect. As it was banished, I can Special Summon it back to my field! Return, Dotscaper!" Within seconds, Dotscaper reappeared on Playmaker's field.

Dotscaper ATK: 0 DEF: 2100 LV: 1

"I summon Lady Debug from my hand." Playmaker continued, as a red and yellow metallic anthropomorphic ladybug appeared on Playmaker's field.

Lady Debug ATK: 1700 DEF: 1400 LV: 4

"When Lady Debug is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add a Level 3 or lower Cyberse monster from my deck to my hand. I add Stack Reviver from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he took and added to my hand. "Then I activate Cynet Optimization's effect. Once per turn, I can Normal Summon one Cyberse monster. Come, Stack Reviver!" A small, white machine with green eyes and two, mechanical arms with prong-like hands at the ends appeared on Playmaker's field. In both sides of its body were blue data cards, while it carried one of them in its left, prong-like hand.

Stack Reviver ATK: 100 DEF: 600 LV: 2

"I will now create my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above Playmaker. "The summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters. I set Lady Debug and Stack Reviver into the Link Markers!" Lady Debug went into the top-right arrowhead, while Stack Reviver went into the bottom-left arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Splash Mage!" A man with ice-blue hair whose attire consisted of white robes that had light-blue lines on it appeared in the Main Monster Zone Encode Talker pointed to. On his upper chest were three blue orbs, one at the center, and the other two attached to his shoulders. A cape was also strapped to his robes as well. In his hands, he carried a scepter with a blue orb on it.

Splash Mage ATK: 1100 LINK-2 ↗️↘️

Why would Playmaker use two monsters to bring out another Link 2 monster. He could have brought out another Link 3 monster to solidify his defenses, so what factor could have made him bring out this monster instead, Raguel wondered in his mind. After looking up Splash Mage's effects, he gasped upon realizing what Playmaker had in mind. Raguel couldn't let Playmaker bring Firewall Dragon Darkfluid, or else it'd be all over for him.

"When Stack Reviver is used for a Link Summon, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster that was also used for that Link Summon in defense position." Playmaker stated. "Return, Lady Debug." At Playmaker's command, Lady Debug reappeared on his field.

Lady Debug ATK: 1700 DEF: 1400 LV: 4

"I also activate Splash Mage's effect. Once per turn, I can target one Cyberse monster in my Graveyard and-."

"I don't think so! I activate Alastor's effect!" Raguel interrupted, hellbent on preventing Playmaker from regaining his strongest monster. "Once per turn, during either of our turns, when you activate a card effect, I can not only negate it, but also activate an additional effect depending on the type of card negated. And like earlier, you can't activate cards or effects in response to his activation. I negate Splash Mage's effects. Abnormal Pressure!" Splash Mage groaned in agony as a grey aura surrounded him that nullified his effects. "As a monster's effect was negated, I can take control of that monster and treat it as a 'Cyreath' monster." Alastor swung his jagged chained blades at Splash Mage, which pierced his body as the former swung him over to Raguel's field.

Splash Mage ATK: 1100 + 300 = 1400

"What's more, I activate the Trap card, Cyreath Unleashed Rites!" The card showed Teferi rising his hands above him as a portal opened in the sky, where tentacles began emerging out of it. Seeing this was two twins, one being a boy with short brown hair and green eyes who wore a white toga with gold cuffs and a black undershirt, the other a girl with long brown hair and green eyes who wore a white dress with gold armlets looks of horror evident on their faces. "This card lets me Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon a 'Cyreath' monster from my Extra Deck by using 'Cyreath' monsters on my field. In addition, if I control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster, I can also use 'Cyreath' monsters in my Graveyard as material by banishing them. The best part is that you can't activate cards or effects in response to the activation of either of this card's effects if I control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster."

"You've got to be kidding me…" Playmaker muttered angrily. Not only did Raguel prevent him from acquiring Firewall Dragon Darkfluid back, he was now using Splash Mage along with his other monsters to bring out another strong monster.

"Appear, the circuit showing the highest mountain!" A Link Portal appeared above Raguel. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Cyreath' monsters. I set Cyreath Teferi, and the Link 2 Splash Mage, which is treated as a 'Cyreath' monster, into the Link Markers!" Teferi went into the left arrowhead, while Splash Mage went into the bottom and right arrowheads, turning all three of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Cyreath Odysseus!" A man wearing dark-purple armor all over his body appeared on Raguel's field in the Main Monster Zone Asclepius pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another. Silver armaments were attached his upper chest, which spread to each of his shoulders. There were also pieces of silver armaments also attached to his thighs, as well as on his forearms. He also wore a helmet that was coated in silver, which had dark-blue eyes on it. A black cape was attached to his shoulders, which flowed for a few seconds before dropping down.

Cyreath Odysseus ATK: 2500 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️

Cyreath Odysseus ATK: 2500 + 300 = 2800

"There will be no mercy for someone like you! I won't stop until you're brought down for good!" Odysseus declared, hellbent on fulfilling his vow.

"And just in case you've forgotten, when Teferi's used as material for the Ritual, Link, Fusion, or Synchro Summon of a 'Cyreath' monster, or detached as Xyz Material by the effect of a 'Cyreath' Xyz monster I can shuffle one 'Cyreath' Link monster back to my Extra Deck to Special Summon him from my Extra Deck or Graveyard to my field." Raguel reminded Playmaker. "I shuffle Atalanta, and Special Summon Teferi from my Extra Deck to my field!" A card popped out of his Graveyard, which he took and shuffled it into his Extra Deck. Soon after, Teferi reappeared on Raguel's field in one of the two Main Monster Zones Asclepius pointed to.

Cyreath Teferi ATK: 3000 DEF: 1500 LV: 8 Scale: 1

Cyreath Teferi ATK: 3000 + 300 = 3300 DEF: 1500 + 300 = 1800

"Just when Playmaker was about to gain an advantage, Raguel managed to shut that attempt down as though nothing happened." Soulburner observed, who grit his teeth seconds later. "He even got out two strong monsters to his field as well."

"One of which was a Link monster, and Raguel even used one of Playmaker's monsters to do so." Numera said.

"What's more, Playmaker took damage earlier simply for adding a card to his hand thanks to Asclepius' effect. Thank goodness it's only once per turn, or else he'd be in a worser situation than he's in right now." Tigress stated.

"Let me ask you this, Playmaker. What will you do now?" Raguel inquired.

"Keep going, that's what!" Playmaker answered. "I will create my circuit for a second time!" A second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more effect monsters. I set the Link 2 Protocol Gardna, and Lady Debug into the Link Markers!" Protocol Gardna went into the top and bottom-left arrowheads, while Lady Debug went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Decode Talker!" A warrior who wore dark-blue and purple armor with golden lines around it appeared on Playmaker's field in the Main Monster Zone Encode Talker pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another. In his right hand, he carried a large, purple sword.

Decode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ↙️⬆️↘️

"You won't hurt us anymore! I promise you that!" Decode Talker vowed, anger evident in his tone.

"The effects of Cynet Codec and Decode Talker activate in sequence." Playmaker began speaking. "First, like before, because I Link Summoned a 'Code Talker' Link monster, I can target that monster and add a Cyberse monster with the same attribute from my deck to my hand. I target Decode Talker, who is a Dark attribute monster. That means I can add the Dark attribute Cyberse Sage from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Second, as you already know, Decode Talker gains 500 attack points for every monster he points to." Decode Talker was surrounded in a purple aura that increased his strength.

Decode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800

"I activate the Ritual Spell card, Cynet Ritual." Playmaker added. "This card lets me tribute monsters on my field or in my hand whose total levels equal or exceed the Level of the Cyberse Ritual monster I'm summoning from my hand. I tribute the Level 1 Dotscaper on my field." Soon, a blue circle with a single blue flame materialized in front of Playmaker. Dotscaper then broke into blue particles that went into the circle and produced a beam of light.

"Ritual Summon! Appear, Level 1! Cyberse Sage!" A young girl wearing a pink and black magician's robe with purple lining, along with a pink bowtie on her upper chest appeared on Playmaker's field. Attached to the back of her shoulders was a short, translucent pink cape that briefly flowed behind her before settling down. She had light pink hair, with some of it covering her right eye, the both of them being light pink. She also wore black boots and high pink and black socks as well. In her hands, she carried a rod that had a green gem at the center, along with three pink prongs extending towards it.

Cyberse Sage ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Cyberse Sage? I didn't know Playmaker had that Ritual monster." Slipstream said. If memory served, the only Ritual monster Playmaker had was Cyberse Magician. So when did he get Cyberse Sage? Did Ai make it prior to the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS? Or was it earlier?

"Neither did I." Soulburner agreed.

"It looks like Raguel's going to be in for it now, guys." Blue Maiden confidently said. While something may seem weak, it can contribute towards something even better. After all, big things come in small packages.

"I now activate Cyberse Sage's effect. Once per turn, I can Fusion Summon one Fusion monster from my Extra Deck by banishing materials from my field or Graveyard, including a Cyberse monster, as long as one of them is a Cyberse monster." Playmaker announced.

"A card that lets you Fusion Summon without Cynet Fusion?" Raguel questioned out of disbelief.

"That's right." Playmaker confirmed. "Using Cyberse Sage's effect, I banish Splash Mage and Stack Reviver in my Graveyard to use them as Fusion Materials!" Silhouettes of Splash Mage and Stack Reviver appeared on Playmaker's field before the former turned into red particles of energy, while the latter turned into blue particles of energy. The red and blue particles then swirled into a vortex, causing two tornadoes of energy to shoot upwards and merge to form a magenta whirlwind.

"Draconic serpent dwelling within the network's depths! Detect your prey, and accumulate your ever-growing strength! Fusion Summon! Emerge, Level 6! Cyberse Desavewurm!" A light pink and violet mechanical dragon with white armor on its body appeared on Playmaker's field in the second Main Monster Zone Encode Talker pointed to. In its legs were canisters that had energy in each of them. On its neck were several spikes that were spiked upwards, with its head having two violet horns that curved from the back. Its armor had purple diamonds painted on the shoulders, chest, and leg portions of them. It also had wings of light-blue energy that had red circles on them as well.

Cyberse Desavewurm ATK: 2300 DEF: 1400 LV: 6

"And now Playmaker Fusion Summoned. A different Cyberse Fusion monster at that…" Slipstream muttered. He remembered Playmaker using Cyberse Clock Dragon against him during their duel, but Cyberse Desavewurm was something he never saw before.

"At the rate this is going, Playmaker's going to regain control of the duel again." Numera happily commented, glad that Playmaker was making a comeback. If Playmaker continued to catch Raguel off guard like this, then the former would ultimately walk away the victor of the duel.

"But I'm not done yet! I tune the Level 1 Cyberse Sage with the Level 6 Cyberse Desavewurm!" Playmaker declared, as a bolt of blue lightning struck him before the world greyed out and his two monsters disappeared into particles. Two rings, one pink and one white, appeared before turning blue and merging. Seven blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "1 + 6" in front of them. The screen changed to "7" as light surged through the rings.

"Flash of lightning! Strike from the far reaches of the universe, and unleash the soaring dragon's unknown power to all that dare stand against it! Synchro Summon! Descend, Level 7! Cyberse Quantum Dragon!" A white and blue dragon with elongated wings that had thrusters embedded in them appeared on Playmaker's field in the second Main Monster Zone Encode Talker pointed to. He had a total of four eyes that gleamed from his head.

Cyberse Quantum Dragon ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 LV: 7

"Ritual, Fusion, and Synchro Summoning in one turn. I get the first two, but how was Playmaker able to pull off the third one?" Raguel quietly muttered to himself, before gritting his teeth after putting two and two together. "I see now. Cyberse Sage was not only a Ritual monster, but a Tuner monster as well. Yes, that must be how you managed to pull all of this off, Playmaker."

"You've been so focused on trying to stop me from getting Darkfluid back that you couldn't see the backup strategies I had in case it should fail." Playmaker told Raguel. "And you'll regret that very soon. I activate Cyberse Sage's effect. When she's used as Synchro material for a Synchro Summon, I can target one Cyberse monster or Ritual Spell card in my Graveyard and add it to my hand. I add Cyberse Gadget from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand.

"What's more, I activate the third effect of Cynet Blockade from my Graveyard. If I control a Link 3 or higher Cyberse monster, I can Set it to my field, but it's banished once it leaves the field." A card popped out of Playmaker's Graveyard, which he took and Set to his field.

"Battle!" Playmaker declared. Cyberse Quantum Dragon attacks Cyreath Asclepius!" Playmaker shouted. "At this point, I activate Cyberse Quantum Dragon's effect. Once per turn, when it battles a monster you control, I can not only return it back to your hand, but also allow it to attack a second time as well."

"Tch." Raguel angrily narrowed his eyes after hearing this information. With Cyberse Quantum Dragon returning Asclepius back to his Extra Deck, that meant he could no longer use Asclepius' second effect to shuffle Playmaker's cards back into his deck and/or Extra Deck. In addition, that effect did not target, which meant Raguel couldn't keep his monster safe due to Domain Tartarus' effects.

"Go, Quantum Return!" Cyberse Quantum Dragon flew through Asclepius, which made him turn into particles as the former dove upward before retreating back to Playmaker's field. "Cyberse Quantum Dragon now attacks Cyreath Alastor! Quantum Encryption!" Cyberse Quantum Dragon generated black and blue data in his maw before preparing to fire it at Teferi. "I activate Encode Talker's effect. When a monster he points to battles a monster you control with higher attack points, my monster cannot be destroyed by battle, and I take no battle damage!" Cyberse Quantum Dragon stopped charging energy in his mouth before standing down. "And then either Encode Talker or a monster he points to gains attack points equal to your monster's attack points until the End Phase. I therefore increase Decode Talker's attack points!" A bright blue aura surrounded Decode Talker as he powered up.

Decode Talker ATK: 2800 + 6300 = 9100

"The battle continues! Decode Talker attacks Cyreath Teferi! Decode Destruction!" Playmaker shouted.

"Take this!" Decode Talker said, as he charged forward and slashed Teferi before a massive explosion occurred, which sent Raguel flying off the ground and rolling back onto it several seconds later, his life points having massively dropped in the process.

Raguel: 6400 – 5800 = 600 LP

"Since my Cyberse Link monster inflicted battle damage, I can activate Prohibit Snake's effect from my Graveyard. By banishing a card from my Graveyard, I can add it back to my hand. I banish Code Exporter from my Graveyard." A card popped out of Playmaker's hand, which he took and added to his hand. "The battle continues once more! Encode Talker attacks Cyreath Alastor! At this point, I activate Prohibit Snake's effect from my hand. Like before, at the start of the damage step, when a Cyberse Link monster I control battles a monster you control, I can send this card from my hand to my Graveyard to return that monster back to your hand." Prohibit Snake reappeared and wrapped itself around Alastor, who grunted in pain before turning into particles that returned back to Raguel's hand.

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn, which means Encode Talker's effect ends, and Decode Talker's attack points return to normal." Playmaker concluded, as Decode Talker's strength returned to normal.

Decode Talker ATK: 9100 – 6300 = 2800

As Raguel slowly got up on his feet after grunting in pain, Playmaker charged forward at him, having used his Link Sense and Instinct to dodge the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles that tried to hurt the latter. Summoning the sword resembling that of Decode Talker's, Playmaker brought it down on Raguel, who dodged it before swinging Excalibur Morgan in an attempt to strike back. However, Playmaker managed to evade the attack and slash Raguel using the sword resembling that of Decode Talker's, which pushed him back several feet as a result. Quickly seizing the opportunity, Playmaker charged forward and brought the sword down a second time, only for Raguel to block it before pushing the former back.

"You've disgraced the people who cared for you and stood by your side. Every single one of them!" Playmaker reprimanded Raguel.

"The fuck you say?!" Raguel demanded, who was genuinely hurt by that comment as black, red and purple particles merged into Excalibur Morgan, which increased the sword's size seconds later.

"Your decision to follow a dead family's beliefs, along with your choices afterwards, has made you no better than them. It's also prevented you from moving past the pain you're trapped in as well!" Playmaker firmly clarified.

"Oh, we got a MODEL DUELIST here." Raguel growled back, as he and Playmaker charged forward, the two of them attempting to strike one another before another blade lock occurred. As a result, another massive explosion occurred that sent both duelists flying through the air before landing on another area of dry land. Due to the explosion, the lake of data material began flowing outwards as it drained the life force of the area further, which caused Soulburner, Tigress, Numera, Slipstream and Blue Maiden to retreat from where they were lest the quintet lose energy from it. Eventually, the quintet was able to find another area of dry land that was just some distance away from the battle between Raguel and Playmaker.

"Hehehe." Raguel slowly got up on his feet after grunting in pain. "This feels... familiar."

"What?" Playmaker narrowed his eyes as he also stood up on his feet, Ai's algorithm healing his body from the large wounds he received seconds later. While his Link Sense and Instinct managed to help in slightly evading the attack, it didn't succeed fully, as Playmaker was still heavily wounded by it.

"The clash of blades I've done against Azrael both prior to and after our duels. It sharpens the body and mind, don't you agree?" Raguel said. "But moving that aside, I didn't expect you to make a comeback so quickly. What's more, you even inflicted massive damage to me through that combo of yours."

"A true duelist adapts to respond to the situation their opponent throws at them." Playmaker pointed out. "Once my next turn comes, not only will I win this duel, I will ensure that you're freed from whatever's infecting you as well."

"We shall see in due time." Raguel replied. "My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck.

"This is just insane. One moment, they're brawling with their cards, and then they're fighting in pure mortal combat." Slipstream commented.

"And the battle's also caused the area to be damaged even more as a result." Tigress added, before pressing a button on her earpiece. "Any updates, Roxy?"

"No, not yet. Although we're close to finding an opening. Just hold out for a little longer." Roxy assured Tigress.

"Damn it..." Tigress gritted her teeth.

"I'm assuming the news isn't good at all, Tigress?" Soulburner guessed.

"Partial good news, Soulburner." Tigress clarified. "Roxy almost found an opening."

"Which means we can get out of here soon." Numera realized.

"The only difficulty is that once the opening's been found, we'll need to retrieve Playmaker before Roxy logs us out." Blue Maiden said. "That's going to be easier said than done, especially with what's happening down there."

Unbeknownst to the others, Jericho was still hiding in the dark forest, having overheard their conversation. So their little allies in the real world are about to find an opening and log them out, eh? The moment they try to do so, I'll prevent that from happening, he thought in his mind.

"I once again activate the Continuous-Trap, Cynet Blockade!" Playmaker said, which made the others redirect their attention to the duel. "Like before, when this card is activated, I can target one Cyberse Link monster I control, and while the targeted monster's on the field, you can't Special Summon monsters from your Extra Deck whose attack points are less than or equal to the targeted monster's original attack points. I target Decode Talker, who is a Link 3 monster. That means you can no longer Special Summon monsters from your Extra Deck whose attack points are 2300 or less."

"How dare you activate that card again in my presence, Playmaker." Raguel said. He now knew how Gil felt when he used a similar card against him. "Still, I overcame that card before, and I will overcome it once again."

"We'll see in due time, won't we?" Playmaker responded. "But moving that aside, I activate Cynet Blockade's second effect. Like before, when I control a Link 3 or higher Cyberse Link monster, I can not only shuffle a Cyberse monster from my Graveyard back into my deck, I also gain life points equal to its attack points as well. I shuffle Lady Debug back into my deck, whose attack points are 1700. That means I gain 1700 life points." A card popped out of Playmaker's Graveyard, which he took and shuffled back into his deck. Afterwards, he was surrounded in a yellow aura that increased his life points.

Playmaker: 1800 + 1700 = 3500 LP

"You won't defy me for long, Playmaker! I activate the Spell card, Cyreath Awakening!" The card showed Atalanta screaming in pain upon seeing the corpses of dead children around her, a dark aura surrounding her body. As a result, Atalanta's transformation into Atalanta/Alpha Mode began, the souls of the dead children looming around her. "This card normally lets me Special Summon a 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard. However, if I control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster, I can Special Summon two 'Cyreath' monsters with different names from my deck instead." Two cards popped out of Raguel's deck. "I Special Summon Cyreath Hecate and Cyreath Charon from my deck to my field!" Soon, two monsters appeared on Raguel's field.

The first was a pale woman who wore dark-blue robes and had black hair. On top of her head was a black, spiked up tiara that had a circle and two crescent moons at the sides. Wrapped around her right arm was a small, green serpent that had a long tail. In her right hand, she carried a dagger, while she carried a small bowl that had water in it in her left hand.

The second was a skeletal and ghoulish man who wore a long, grey and light-green cloak over his body, with numerous wisps of energy orbiting around him. Adorned on his head were two golden chains, with a skull-like mask emblem connecting them together.

Cyreath Hecate ATK: 1800 DEF: 1800 LV: 4

Cyreath Charon ATK: 1900 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

Cyreath Hecate ATK: 1800 + 300 = 2100 DEF: 1800 + 300 = 2100

Cyreath Charon ATK: 1900 + 300 = 2200 DEF: 1600 + 300 = 1900

"There's now more monsters that Raguel created himself…" Blue Maiden muttered.

"From what's happening so far in the duel, a majority of Raguel's new cards cannot be stopped as long as he controls a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster." Numera observed.

"And combined with the deck's ability to rapidly Link Summon back-to-back, it means Raguel's options cannot be stopped unless you manage to slow it down before it reaches fruition." Slipstream finished, shocked by how Raguel was able to pull off his combos throughout the duel despite Playmaker trying to stop them.

"The effects of Hecate and Charon now activate." Raguel began speaking. "First, when Hecate is Normal or Special Summoned while I control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster, I can either add one 'Cyreath' Spell or Trap card from my Graveyard to my hand or Set it from my Graveyard to my field."

"What?!" Playmaker exclaimed, shocked after hearing this. With that effect, Raguel would be able to further solidify his field, as well as block Playmaker's efforts to win the duel.

"With Hecate's effect, I Set Eradication from my Graveyard to my field." A card popped out of Raguel's Graveyard, which he took and Set to his Spell & Trap card zone. "Second, when Charon's Normal or Special Summoned, I can either add one 'Cyreath' monster from my deck to my hand, or Special Summon a 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard. Thus, I add Cyreath Periphas from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Raguel's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"From there, I activate the effect of Unleashed Rites from my Graveyard. By banishing it from my Graveyard, I can add a 'Cyreath' card from my deck or Graveyard to my hand. However, if I control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster, I can add two 'Cyreath' cards from my deck or Graveyard to my hand." Raguel added. "And just like before, since I control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster, you can't activate cards or effects in response to Unleashed Rites' effects. Thus, I add Cyreath Hewdraw and Cyreath Fusion from my deck to my hand." Two cards popped out of Raguel's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"I summon Cyreath Periphas from my hand to my field." A young man who had red eyes and spiky, ash-coloured hair appeared on Raguel's field. He wore a customized version of black Greek robes, as well as long, fingerless gloves on his arms. Wrapped around his neck was a piece of red cloth, which resembled that of a scarf.

Cyreath Periphas ATK: 1400 DEF: 1100 LV: 4

Cyreath Periphas ATK: 1400 + 400 = 1800 DEF: 1100 + 400 = 1500

"I tune the Level 4 Cyreath Periphas with the Level 4 Hecate!" Raguel declared, as a bolt of golden lightning struck him before the world greyed out and his two monsters disintegrated into particles. Two rings, one grey, and one dark blue, appeared before turning blue and merging. Eight rings, stacked in a tower, appeared, a screen displaying "4 + 4" in front of them. The screen changed to "8" as light surged through the rings.

"Divine bird of the gods of Olympus! Heed my call, and bring the omens of victory and perseverance! Synchro Summon! Come before us, Level 8! Cyreath Aetos Dios!" A giant, yellow-skinned eagle with golden armor covering its entire body, as well as razor-sharp talons appeared on Raguel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He had a golden helmet on top of his head, which had a lightning bolt on both of its sides. He also had four strands of grey hair that resembled lightning bolts on both sides of his neck.

Cyreath Aetos Dios ATK: 2800 DEF: 2200 LV: 8

Cyreath Aetos Dios ATK: 2800 + 300 = 3100 DEF: 2200 + 300 = 2500

"Hecate's effect now activates! Once per turn, when she's used as material for the Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon of a 'Cyreath' monster, I can banish a card on your field, and this doesn't target." Raguel added.

"Oh no!" Playmaker exclaimed, as Raguel quickly looked up the cards on the former's field using his duel disk.

"And I already know what to banish." Raguel thrusted out his right hand. "I banish Cynet Blockade!" Wisps of energy emerged out of Raguel's Graveyard before heading towards Cynet Blockade, which turned it into particles, much to Playmaker's ire. "Now that I'm free to use the full power of my Extra Deck, I activate Odysseus' effect. Once per turn, I can target up to two 'Cyreath' monsters in my Graveyard and Special Summon them to Main Monster Zones he points to. As such, I Special Summon Periphas and Asclepius back to my field. Ley Line Beckoning!" Soon, Periphas and Asclepius reappeared on Raguel's field in one of the two Main Monster Zones Odysseus pointed to.

Cyreath Periphas ATK: 1400 DEF: 1100 LV: 4

Cyreath Periphas ATK: 1400 + 400 = 1800 DEF: 1100 + 400 = 1500

Cyreath Asclepius ATK: 2500 LINK-3 ⬅️⬆️➡️

Cyreath Asclepius ATK: 2500 + 300 = 2800

Raguel could have gone after my monsters using Hecate's effect, but he chose instead to banish a card that would restrict his moves. He must be planning to win the duel on this turn, and for that to happen, he wants to ensure that all of his options are available, Playmaker deduced in his mind. Luckily, with Encode Talker and Cyberse Quantum Dragon's effects working in tandem, Playmaker will be able to survive this turn.

"Next, I activate Periphas' effect. Once per turn, I can target one 'Cyreath' monster on my field, and change its level from one to eight until the end of this turn. I target Aetos Dios, and change his level to two!" Raguel decided, as Aetos Dios was surrounded in an ash-colored aura, which changed his level in the process.

Cyreath Aetos Dios LV: 8 – 6 = 2

"I tune the Level 4 Cyreath Periphas with the Level 4 Charon and the Level 2 Aetos Dios!" A second bolt of golden lightning struck Raguel as the world greyed out around him and his two monsters disintegrated into particles. Three rings, one grey, one light-green, and one gold, appeared before turning blue and merging. Ten rings, stacked in a tower, appeared, a screen displaying "4 + 4 + 2" in front of them. The screen changed to "10" as light surged through the rings.

"Scourge of the mightiest skies! Dive downward, and strike my foes with your merciless wrath!" Raguel chanted. "Synchro Summon! Appear! Level 10! Cyreath Anemoi Gryphon!" A large, yellow-skinned quadrupedal gryphon that wore black armor with golden lines on it appeared on Raguel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. On top of the armor pieces on his tail and legs were bone-like pieces that had spikes on them. In addition, on his neck was a bone resembling that of a spine, which was connected to a bone mask with yellow lines that was on his head.

Cyreath Anemoi Gryphon ATK: 3000 DEF: 2500 LV: 10 PS: 11

Cyreath Anemoi Gryphon ATK: 3000 + 300 = 3300 DEF: 2500 + 300 = 2800

"A Synchro Pendulum monster?!" Playmaker exclaimed out of shock.

"That's correct, Playmaker. This monster will be amongst many that will contribute towards your end!" Raguel confirmed. "Starting with this! When Anemoi Gryphon is Special Summoned, I can place 'Pierce' counters on your field up to the number of 'Cyreath' monsters I control with different names on my field, and the best part is that you can't activate cards or effects in response to any of Anemoi Gryphon's effects!"

"Tch." Playmaker narrowed his eyes in fury and grit his teeth.

"This effect also doesn't target, which means it bypasses Cyberse Quantum Dragon's effect of protecting its kin. As I control Odysseus, Asclepius and Anemoi Gryphon, that means I can place three 'Pierce' counters. Thus, I place them on Encode Talker, Decode Talker and Cynet Codec. Piercing Hurricane!" Anemoi Gryphon flapped his wings as a hurricane was fired out, which had spikes orbiting around it that struck Encode Talker, Decode Talker and Cynet Codec, who were all covered in grey auras as their effects were stripped away from the trio. As for Encode Talker and Decode Talker, they cried out in pain once they lost their effects.

Encode Talker PC: 0 + 1 = 1

Decode Talker PC: 0 + 1 = 1

Cynet Codec PC: 0 + 1 = 1

"Also, note that while cards have 'Pierce' counters, they can no longer activate their effects. In addition, any monsters that have 'Pierce' counters can no longer attack." Raguel informed Playmaker, which caught him off guard.

"In addition, since Charon was used as material for the Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon of a 'Cyreath' monster, I can negate the effects of a card on your field, and this doesn't target. I negate Cynet Optimization's effects." Cynet Optimization was surrounded in a red aura that greyed it out, negating its effects in the process.

"That's not good for Playmaker. Now he can't use Encode Talker's effects during the Battle Phase." Soulburner commented.

"Cynet Codec's also one of Playmaker's main cards in acquiring more monsters, so the fact that Raguel negated it means Playmaker won't be able to gather his resources." Tigress said.

"What's more, Raguel added Cyreath Hewdraw and Cyreath Fusion using Unleashed Rites' second effect, which means he's going to Fusion Summon really soon." Slipstream acknowledged.

"Last but not least, I activate the Spell card, Cyreath Fusion." Raguel said. "This card lets me Fusion Summon one 'Cyreath' Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, by using 'Cyreath' monsters from my hand or field. In addition, if you control a Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, or Link monster, I can also use one 'Cyreath' Link monster from my Extra Deck as Fusion Material as well!"

"You're Fusion Summoning Lernaean Hydra, aren't you?" Playmaker guessed.

"Oh no, Playmaker. I'm not bringing out Lernaean Hydra. Instead, I'm bringing out something far worse that will plunge you into despair. I use Cyreath Hewdraw in my hand, along with Odysseus and Asclepius on my field as Fusion Materials." Soon, a silhouette of a medium-sized, serpent-like dragon with dark-purple scales and a white underbelly appeared on Raguel's field alongside Odysseus and Asclepius. They broke apart into red, blue and green particles before they went upwards and swirled into a vortex. Three tornadoes of energy shot upwards and merged to form a white and yellow whirlwind.

"Ferocious serpent in the deepest part of the ocean! Immerse yourself with the roughest waters, and drown my enemies in eternal despair!" Raguel chanted. "Fusion Summon! Emerge! Level 10! Cyreath Thuellai Charybdis!" A massive, dark-blue serpent with sharp and rough skin, as well as three long tentacles that ended in sharp blades on each side of his body appeared on Raguel's field in the Main Monster Zone Encode Talker pointed to. He had sharp fangs in the top portion of his mouth, while the bottom portion of his mouth had regular teeth. On top of his head was a pair of horns, which resembled that of a mammoth's tusks.

Cyreath Thuellai Charybdis ATK: 3300 DEF: 2500 LV: 10 PS: 1

Cyreath Thuellai Charybdis ATK: 3300 + 300 = 3600 DEF: 2500 + 300 = 2800

"And now a Fusion Pendulum monster..." Playmaker muttered, shocked that Raguel was able to bring out both a Fusion and a Synchro Pendulum monster in a single turn.

"Indeed, Playmaker. These two monsters, along with the other ones I've summoned so far, are ones I should have used during the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS, don't you agree?" Raguel taunted. "But I digress. When Thuellai Charybdis is Fusion Summoned, I can either add a 'Cyreath' card from my deck to my hand, or send it to my Graveyard. I send Roar of the Cyreaths from my deck to my Graveyard." A card popped out of Raguel's deck, which he took and sent to his Graveyard.

He's planning on using the effect of his card that can only activate in his Graveyard on my turn, Playmaker figured out in his mind. That's the only reason why Raguel sent it to his Graveyard with Thuellai Charybdis' effect.

"From there, I activate Thuellai Charybdis' effect. Once per turn, I can target a monster on your field and not only negate its effects, but also reduce its attack points to zero until the End Phase. In addition, Charybdis gains those effects, and you can't activate cards or effects in response to either of his effects."

"But while Cyberse Quantum Dragon is on my field and I control a Link monster, you can only target him for attacks or effects." Playmaker reminded Raguel, before he gasped. "Unless-!"

"While your other monsters are strong, I only weakened them on purpose so I can acquire the strength of your strongest monster." Raguel cheekily replied. "I target Cyberse Quantum Dragon! Torrential Agony!" Thuellai Charybdis lashed out the tentacles on his body at Cyberse Quantum Dragon, which pierced the latter's body before draining his strength away as it went to the former instead. As a result, a grey aura surrounded Cyberse Quantum Dragon that made him scream in pain, while a blue aura surrounded Thuellai Charybdis that made him roar with glee.

Cyberse Quantum Dragon ATK: 2500 – 2500 = 0

"Last but not least, I activate Anemoi Gryphon's second effect. Once per turn, when he's Synchro Summoned using a 'Cyreath' Synchro monster, I can target a monster that has a 'Pierce' counter on it and not only take control of that monster, but also treat it as a 'Cyreath' monster. In addition, I can remove that 'Pierce' counter from the targeted monster as well, and like earlier, you can't activate cards or effects in response to the activation of either of Anemoi Gryphon's effects!"

"Damn it!" Playmaker cursed. He did not expect Raguel to bring out a Fusion Pendulum and Synchro Pendulum monster on his turn, nor did he expect his field to be weakened so much that there was a slim chance of survival. No! Playmaker wouldn't fall into despair! Not while there was hope!

"I target and take control of Encode Talker! Pierce Absorption!" Anemoi Gryphon's wings glowed yellow as the 'Pierce' counter on Encode Talker glowed the same color, which dragged him to Raguel's field before it removed itself and returned to his wings.

Encode Talker PC: 1 – 1 = 0

Encode Talker ATK: 2300 + 300 = 2600

"Oh, shit. This just got worse for Playmaker." Tigress said.

"Cyberse Quantum Dragon's effect normally prevents the opponent from targeting other monsters with attacks or card effects while Playmaker controls a Link monster. Unfortunately, Raguel wanted that effect from the very beginning for Thuellai Charybdis, which was the only reason why he didn't use Anemoi Gryphon's effect to put a 'Pierce' counter on him." Slipstream said.

"Which means Playmaker's in a very dire situation right now." Numera realized.

Blue Maiden, on the other hand, couldn't say anything as she looked at the duel. No. It can't be over for Playmaker. It just can't be, she thought in her mind.

"Let's end this! Battle!" Raguel declared. "Cyreath Thuellai Charybdis attacks Decode Talker! At this point, I activate Thuellai Charybdis' newest effect thanks to Cyberse Quantum Dragon! Once per turn, when it battles a monster you control, I can not only return it back to your hand, but also allow it to attack a second time as well. And like I mentioned earlier, you can't activate cards or effects in response to the activation of each of Thuellai Charybdis' effects, especially the ones it stole this turn." Charybdis' tentacles lashed out and pierced Decode Talker, which returned him to Playmaker's Extra Deck. "Cyreath Thuellai Charybdis attacks Cyberse Quantum Dragon! Torrential Submergence!" Black, ghoulish energy appeared in Charybdis' mouth, having prepared to fire it at Cyberse Quantum Dragon.

"This duel is not over yet, Raguel!" Playmaker shouted back, as he gestured to his field. "Trap card, activate! Cynet Determination!" The card showed Security Dragon firing a blast back at Rousing Hydradrive Monarch in response to the latter's attack, intent on preventing its death. A silhouette of Decode Talker appeared on Security Dragon's right side, while a silhouette of Encode Talker appeared on Security Dragon's left side, the two of them giving their ally energy in order to survive the attack. "I can target a Cyberse monster on my field, and by sending a Cyberse monster from my deck or Extra Deck to my Graveyard, I can have the targeted Cyberse monster I control gain the attack points of the sent monster until the End Phase. What's more, the targeted Cyberse monster cannot be destroyed by battle for the rest of this turn!"

"What?!" Raguel exclaimed.

"I send Firewall eXceed Dragon from my Extra Deck to my Graveyard, which means Cyberse Quantum Dragon gains 2500 attack points!" Soon, a silhouette of Firewall eXceed Dragon appeared behind Cyberse Quantum Dragon, which went into him as the latter gained the former's strength temporarily.

Cyberse Quantum Dragon ATK: 0 + 2500 = 2500

"You're still taking damage one way or another, Playmaker." Raguel pointed out. "Torrential Submergence!" Charybdis fired the black, ghoulish energy at Cyberse Quantum Dragon, who survived the impact. As for Playmaker, he was forced to brace himself as his life points dropped.

Playmaker: 3500 – 1100 = 2400 LP

"The battle continues! Cyreath Anemoi Gryphon attacks Cyberse Quantum Dragon! Cyclone Shredder!" Anemoi Gryphon flew forward as dark, luminous energy surrounded his body, spikes firing out of his wings that hit Cyberse Quantum Dragon numerous times in the process. The energy surrounding Anemoi Gryphon then turned him into a massive drill that hit Cyberse Quantum Dragon, which caused an explosion upon impact. While Cyberse Quantum Dragon survived the attack for the second time, Playmaker was pushed back several feet towards the data material lake as his life points dropped once again.

Playmaker: 2400 – 800 = 1600 LP

"The battle continues once again! Encode Talker attacks Cyberse Quantum Dragon!" Encode Talker charged forward at Cyberse Quantum Dragon, a sword emerging from his shield, which he brought down onto the latter. While Cyberse Quantum Dragon survived the battle for the third time in a row, the resulting explosion made Playmaker wince once more as he was pushed back once again towards the data material lake, his life points having dropped in the process.

Playmaker: 1600 – 300 = 1300 LP

"With that, I end my turn, which means the effects of Thuellai Charybdis and Cynet Determination end, and Cyberse Quantum Dragon regains its effects." Raguel concluded, as Cyberse Quantum Dragon let out a loud roar, having regained his abilities.

Within several seconds, the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles emerged from the lake and tried to grab Playmaker, who felt his body move as he tried to dodge them. However. Raguel quickly charged forward and slashed Playmaker with Excalibur Morgan, which pushed him back before the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles attempted to grab him once more. Ripping off one of the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles with his hands, Playmaker attempted to strike back at Raguel. In response, Raguel's eyes glowed red before he suddenly dodged those attacks and struck back, as if he were looking slightly ahead into the future. The counterattack made Playmaker take several steps back, having been wounded as the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles grabbed him once more. Black, red and purple particles merged into Excalibur Morgan, which increased the sword's size as Raguel slashed Playmaker with it, which caused a massive gash to appear on the latter's body as the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles tried to drag him into the lake's depths.

"Guys, we did it! We broke through the Shadow's defenses and found an opening!" Kusanagi reported to the group. "Sending coordinates now."

Sure enough, a set of coordinates was sent to Soulburner, Tigress, Slipstream, Blue Maiden and Numera seconds later, which popped out of their respective duel disks.

"Yes! Kusanagi and Roxy did it!" Soulburner cheered.

"We can get out of here!" Slipstream cheered as well.

"Let's go!" Tigress said, as she, Soulburner, Slipstream and Numera began running into the forest to reach the set of coordinates in the server. Seeing Blue Maiden shaking at what was going on in the duel, Tigress ran back and shook Blue Maiden's shoulder to get her attention. "We need to leave while we still have the chance!"

"But what about Playmaker?" Blue Maiden asked out of concern, which unfortunately got Raguel's attention.

"You dare try to escape from me?!" Raguel exclaimed, as he turned the quintet, intent on pursuing them. "You guys are not getting away from-!"

With a large shout, Playmaker ripped the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles off his body before running forward at Raguel, having successfully evaded the Cursed Boundary Layer and slashed the latter with the sword resembling that of Decode Talker's sword. Playmaker proceeded to slash Raguel several more times before Raguel's eyes glowed red, where he dodged the attacks and struck back with a single, full powered up slash from Excalibur Morgan. As a result, it sent Playmaker flying back before the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles restrained him once more. Raguel then swung Excalibur Morgan in an upwards arc, which released waves of black and red energy that hit Playmaker before causing several gashes to appear on his body. The good thing was that, despite being restrained, Playmaker felt his body move to evade the attacks. However, it wasn't a full dodge, as those attacks still left gashes on his body that Ai's algorithm had to heal for him.

"We're going now!" Tigress stated, as she grabbed Blue Maiden's arm and forced the latter to follow after the former, intent on leaving before the opening Roxy and Kusanagi found closed up once more.

Nearby in the forest, Jericho began following after the group, knowing that he couldn't let them leave the server. Besides, he still needed to capture Numera after all due to her being the last Construct, and he wouldn't let the group escape with her.

A few minutes later, in the server...

Blue Maiden, Numera, Tigress, Slipstream and Soulburner ran through the forest, having saw the brief beacon that appeared in the air. The one that can efficiently log them out of this server if they hurried. Unfortunately, several blasts of data material flew through the air that hit the source, which shredded it into particles much to the quintets' horror.

"Who did-?" Tigress began speaking, before a burst of wind flew through the forest, as if to indicate that something was not right.

Suddenly, a curved blade resembling Heatleo's claws, as evident by the silver color with an orange grip, appeared in Soulburner's right hand before he dashed forward, where he intercepted Jericho's attack and pushed him back. From there, Soulburner dashed forward once again and attempted to strike Jericho, only for the latter to jump back to evade the attack.

"How were you able to intercept my attack like that?" Jericho questioned, as a blade of data material appeared in his left hand before he readied himself for the battle to come, having gripped the short sword in his right hand as well.

"Great! Now we have another person to deal with!" Slipstream exclaimed.

Numera hid behind Blue Maiden, who was just as shocked as her and the others. In Numera's mind, she knew that the person who attacked them just now was very bad news.

"I'm your opponent." Soulburner told Jericho, as a second curved blade resembling Heatleo's claws appeared in his left hand. "Leave them out of it."

"Soulburner." Blue Maiden said, which got Soulburner's attention. "We're counting on you."

Soulburner nodded back, assuring Blue Maiden and the others that he got this under control as the group began running the other way, knowing they had to lay low until Roxy and Kusanagi found another opening. For the time being, the group would have to go back and watch the duel between Raguel and Playmaker, as the chances of their new enemy attacking them would be reduced. After all, should Jericho appear on the scene, Raguel would very likely unleash his power on him due to interfering in the duel.

Soulburner followed after Jericho, who ran through the forest in the hopes of getting away from the former and regaining the stealthy advantage he had earlier. However, Soulburner hopped on several tree branches before diving down and attempting to slash Jericho. In response, Jericho jumped high into the air, which made Soulburner slide on the ground upon missing. Seeing this, he then jumped onto a tree branch to try and land a blow on Jericho, only for the latter to evade the attack by hopping from tree branch to tree branch. A green and silver bow with arrows appeared in Soulburner's hands, where he fired several of them at Jericho before spinning horizontally so he can get a better aim with his weapon. Soulburner fired another arrow, which distracted Jericho long enough for the former to slam the latter to the ground and restrain him.

"It's over." Soulburner declared, as a blade resembling Heatleo's claws reappeared in his hand, ready to deliver the final blow. However, shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles appeared, causing Soulburner to jump high into the air. But he was a split-second too late, for he was stabbed by one of them as he fell to the ground. Even though Soulburner managed to get up on one knee, it was clear he was in pain.

"The Cursed Boundary Layer..." Jericho muttered, as he looked at the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles slowly spreading to the area before getting up on one knee. "No living being could fight that. Not even one who was involved the Lost Incident could have a chance at surviving against it."

"The Lost Incident? How do you-?" Soulburner began asking, before he gasped. "You! You're the one who killed Flame and the others!"

"They would have died one way or another, but yes, I killed them." Jericho admitted in a calm and untroubled tone, much to Soulburner's anger. "But rest assured, you'll see Flame again once the Cursed Boundary Layer drains you from limb to limb." He stood up on his feet and gave a malicious smirk to Soulburner before running into the depths of the dark forest, having regained the stealthy advantage once again.

Meanwhile, at Raguel and Playmaker's duel...

Blue Maiden, Tigress, Slipstream and Numera ran back to the duel before running up another large slope, which was a long distance away from it. This way, they'd still be able to watch the duel, but also not get noticed by Raguel as well. There, the group saw a restrained Playmaker fighting back against the Cursed Boundary Layer, which tried to capture him by pulling the former in the lake of data material. Cyberse Quantum Dragon was also restrained by the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles, trying to fight back to avoid a similar fate.

On Playmaker's body were several small and medium gashes, which Ai's algorithm was trying to heal while Playmaker fought back against the Cursed Boundary Layer. He gritted his teeth as he tried to pull himself up instead of allowing the Cursed Boundary Layer to defeat him. Watching Playmaker and Cyberse Quantum Dragon's attempts was Raguel, who was standing on the lake as though he could walk on it.

"You've fought well, Playmaker, just as I expected you to do so." Raguel praised Playmaker. "Still, it's a shame it has to end soon. But as thanks for an excellent duel, I will tell you something vital. Azrael and Wraith were the ones who ultimately ended the Lost Incident."

"That's a lie, and you know it, Raguel. Revolver was the one who ended the Lost Incident ten years ago." Playmaker responded.

"While you are correct, Playmaker, you are also incorrect at the same time."

"What do you mean by that?"

Raguel grinned. "When Wraith began interacting with Azrael, he saw what happened to my brother and I when we were kids. How we were forced to rely upon one another for survival, especially at the moment we were babies. After analyzing this information, Wraith decided to take action by exploiting any opportunities that popped up, and a golden one arrived once Revolver came into the picture."

"Wait a minute." Playmaker's eyes widened for a few seconds before he put two and two together. "Did Wraith inflict Revolver with the same trauma the Lost Incident victims went through?"

"Wraith scared Revolver by showing him footage and pictures of what the Lost Incident victims went through during the night. Revolver's curiosity in determining whether the information he got was valid or not led to him having those nightmares." Raguel told Playmaker. "Once Revolver realized they were true, he was so haunted with everything going on that he ended the Lost Incident so his pain would stop."

Playmaker couldn't help but gasp after hearing Raguel's answer. Never in his life would he realize that Azrael and Wraith were ultimately the ones who ended the Lost Incident in the end.

"Damn. This is insane..." Slipstream muttered, who was just as shocked by what Raguel revealed in regard to who really ended the Lost Incident.

"Yeah... it is..." Numera agreed, also shocked by this information.

"While Revolver ended the Lost Incident, Azrael and Wraith were the ultimate motivators that led him to do so." Blue Maiden commented. "Even after being defeated, Azrael's viewpoints and the reasons for his actions have poisoned Raguel's mind, body and soul."

"But to sum it up, just as my family lineage was responsible for what led to the Lost Incident, my brother, who was in that same family lineage as I am right now, was the one who ended it." Raguel angrily told Playmaker, as he pointed Excalibur Morgan at him. "Drown in despair, knowing that despite your strength, you couldn't win in the end."

"Playmaker!" Blue Maiden exclaimed, which got Raguel's attention as he turned around to face her and the others. He then started walking to the group, Anemoi Gryphon and Thuellai Charybdis, along with a corrupted Encode Talker accompanying him in the process. With Playmaker about to be captured, it seemed it only proper for Raguel to capture Numera. Should she try to escape, he'll hunt her down using his monsters.

"This isn't good..." Tigress muttered.

"We need to go now!" Slipstream told Blue Maiden, having put a hand on Blue Maiden's shoulder.

"Yeah, Blue Maiden. Roxy and Kusanagi will find another opening soon, and if we don't hurry, we won't be able to reach the next one! Please!" Numera pleaded.

"I can't abandon him. Not after everything he's done for us." Blue Maiden replied back, as she freed herself from Slipstream's grip. "PLAYMAKER!"

WHOOSH!

A massive burst of energy erupted from the water, which got Raguel's attention as he turned to see Playmaker use the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles as a slingshot to kick the latter back several feet. With a loud shout, Playmaker ripped the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles off his body before charging forward and slashing Raguel, causing him to be sent back several feet on dry land. Grabbing Raguel's head, Playmaker proceeded to slam him to the trees nearby before throwing him to the ground. Raguel tried to counterattack, but Playmaker immediately dodged it using his Link Sense and Instinct before slashing him with the sword resembling Decode Talker's sword three times. Due to the attack, Raguel was stunned, which gave Playmaker the opportunity to grab him by the head, jump in the air, and slam the former to the ground once again, another explosion occurring in the process. As the smoke cleared, Raguel was sent flying back several feet while he rolled on the ground, while Playmaker landed on it some feet away from the former.

Cyberse Quantum Dragon reappeared on Playmaker's side, having freed himself from the Cursed Boundary Layer's grasp, while Anemoi Gryphon, Thuellai Charybdis and Encode Talker appearing on Raguel's side of the field.

"This duel is not over, Raguel! So long as I have a single life point, I'm still in it to the very end! My turn! I draw!" Playmaker said, as he drew the top card of his deck. This is it! I have one last chance to defeat Raguel, and I have to make it count, he thought in his mind. I will not waste it! Not when there's so much on the line! "I activate the effect of Cynet Determination in my Graveyard. By banishing it, I can target a Cyberse monster that was Special Summoned from my Extra Deck on my field, and Special Summon a Cyberse Link monster from my Extra Deck whose attack points are equal to or less than the targeted monster's original attack points. What's more, I can treat it as a Link Summon. I target Cyberse Quantum Dragon, whose original attack points are 2500. That means I can Special Summon Transcode Talker from my Extra Deck to my field." Soon, Transcode Talker reappeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️➡️

"From there, I activate the Spell card, Pot of Acquisitiveness. This card lets me target three monsters in my banished zone and shuffle it into my deck before drawing a card. I shuffle Firewall Dragon Darkfluid, Cyberse Diffractor and Backup Supporter into my deck and Extra Deck, and draw!" Three cards appeared beside Playmaker before he shuffled them into his deck and Extra Deck. After doing so, he drew the top card of his deck.

Though I will let you get your monster back, Playmaker, it doesn't mean I won't let you bring it out, Raguel thought in his mind, having looked at his face-down card. The moment Playmaker used Transcode Talker's effect or brought out enough monsters to Link Summon Firewall Dragon Darkfluid, Raguel would shut that down for good.

"I now activate Transcode Talker's effect." Playmaker continued. "Once per turn-."

"No, you don't! Trap card, activate! Cyreath Eradication!" Raguel interrupted. "Just like before, when you activate a card effect or summon a monster, I can negate the effect or summon and send it to your Graveyard. The best part is that you can't activate cards or effects in response to this card's activation! So say goodbye to Transcode Talker!" A blade of energy headed towards Transcode Talker, which turned him into particles. "You had a chance to turn things around, Playmaker, but you betted it all on bringing your ultimate monster out to your field. After all, you and I both know that it's the only way for you to defeat me, Playmaker. Unfortunately for you, I stopped it permanently."

"You didn't, Raguel." Playmaker replied. "Just because you closed up one route to victory doesn't mean there are other routes I can choose to achieve my end goal, and if you don't believe me, allow me to show you what I mean. I summon Cyberse Gadget from my hand to my field." At Playmaker's command, Cyberse Gadget reappeared on his field.

Cyberse Gadget ATK: 1400 DEF: 300 LV: 4

"Just like before, when Cyberse Gadget is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target one Level 2 or lower monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it to my field in exchange for negating its effects. I target Micro Coder in my Graveyard, and Special Summon it back to my field!" Soon, Micro Coder reappeared on Playmaker's field in defense position.

Micro Coder ATK: 300 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"I will now create my circuit!" Playmaker declared, as a Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are one Level 2 or lower Cyberse monster. I set Micro Coder into the Link Markers!" Micro Coder went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Talkback Lancer!" A blue, gold and light-green armored warrior appeared on Playmaker's field. In his hands, he carried a naginata that had a large blade at the end.

Talkback Lancer ATK: 1200 LINK-1 ⬇️

"I activate Talkback Lancer's effect! Once per turn, I can tribute a Cyberse monster on my field to target a 'Code Talker' monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it to a Main Monster Zone he points to. I tribute Cyberse Gadget, and Special Summon Transcode Talker right back to my field!" After Cyberse Gadget turned into particles, Transcode Talker reappeared on Playmaker's field in the Main Monster Zone Talkback Lancer pointed to.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️➡️

"Playmaker now has two Link monsters and a Synchro monster on his field." Tigress observed. "Could he be going for a Link 4 monster next?"

"No, Tigress. I think we're about to see something spectacular." Slipstream told Tigress.

"I will now create my ultimate circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker declared, as a massive Link portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are three or more effect monsters. I set the Link 1 Talkback Lancer, the Link 3 Transcode Talker, and Cyberse Quantum Dragon into the Link Markers!" Talkback Lancer went into the top arrowhead, Transcode Talker went into the left, right and bottom-left arrowheads, and Cyberse Quantum Dragon went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning all five of them red.

"The mysterious power coming from the dawn of creation! Rain on the star of miracles, and ignite infinite life throughout the entire universe! Link Summon! Appear, Link 5! Firewall Dragon Darkfluid!" A massive droplet of water fell onto the duel field, which caused an eruption of earth, wind, and fire to shoot out of it upon impact. Seconds later, a dragon with black skin and green lines on his body, appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He had black, blue, and white armor on his body, along with black and blue diamonds attached to the ring on his back in place of wings. The circle on top of his head was cut in half, each side having spikes on it. There were also white, open circles attached to the back of his arms and legs, as well as a closed circle attached to the end of his tail.

Firewall Dragon Darkfluid ATK: 3000 LINK-5 ↙️⬅️⬆️➡️↘️

"You! How dare you hurt my family! I will ensure nothing of you remains!" Firewall Dragon Darkfluid exclaimed before letting out a loud roar, which caused the Cursed Boundary Layer to shriek in pain, thus making Raguel stagger for several seconds as well.

"A Link 5 monster!" Blue Maiden, Tigress, Slipstream and Numera said at the same time. If Soulburner was here, he'd be just as shocked as the others were right now.

"This must be the ultimate trump card Raguel tried to stop, but Playmaker managed to get it back and bring it out to his field!" Numera happily said.

"I didn't know Firewall Dragon Darkfluid was a Link 5 monster, but Playmaker's going to win if he continues catching Raguel off guard." Tigress stated.

"Just one attack, and the match will be over." Slipstream finished.

With one attack, Raguel will be freed from the Shadow's curse, Playmaker thought in his mind. "When Firewall Dragon Darkfluid is Link Summoned, if there are Cyberse Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz monsters in my Graveyard, I can place a counter on him for each one in my Graveyard. As there's one of each in my Graveyard, that means Darkfluid gains four counters." Four rainbow orbs orbited around Darkfluid for a few seconds before going into his body.

Firewall Dragon Darkfluid C: 0 + 4 = 4

"Now I activate the Equip Spell card, Link Encasement, and equip it onto Darkfluid!" The card showed Linkuriboh being covered in a translucent aura before forming into armor. "This card lets me equip it onto a Cyberse Link monster I control, and it's unaffected by your card effects while it's on the field. What's more, if the equipped monster leaves the field, any damage I would take for the rest of this turn is reduced by its Link rating times 500."

"WHAT?!" Raguel exclaimed, panic evident in his tone.

"That's perfect! Now Firewall Dragon Darkfluid is unaffected by any card effects Raguel could use to get rid of it!" Blue Maiden realized.

"Which means the duel's gonna end in Playmaker's victory!" Numera cheered.

As if on cue, silhouettes of Flame, Aqua, Windy and Earth appeared beside Darkfluid before providing him with some of their energy to cover his body in translucent armor, much to Raguel's surprise.

"The other Ignis..." Raguel muttered, having let out a small gasp upon seeing them.

"Are helping me win this duel." Playmaker said, which got Raguel's attention. "Battle! Firewall Dragon Darkfluid attacks Cyreath Thuellai Charybdis! And when he battles, he gains 2500 attack points for each counter on him until the end of the damage step!" Darkfluid let out a third roar before he rose into the sky, his wings having spread into purple energy diamonds as the green lines on his body turn red.

Firewall Dragon Darkfluid ATK: 3000 + (2500 X 4) = 13000

"Neo Tempest Terahertz!" Rainbow energy charged up in Darkfluid's maw as he prepared to fire it, the energy diamonds having changed to a rainbow color.

"Accursed Shadow! BEGONE!" Darkfluid screamed, as he fired the rainbow energy at Thuellai Charybdis, the silhouettes of Flame, Aqua, Windy and Earth lending their power to aid in the final attack, which caused a massive explosion seconds later. However, when the smoke cleared, it showed a partially scathed Raguel, having shook off the pain from the attack.

"No way..." Slipstream muttered.

"Impossible. That attack should have finished Raguel off." Tigress commented.

"Unless-." Numera began speaking, before she gasped. "The card that Raguel sent to his Graveyard!"

"This can't be happening. It just can't..." Blue Maiden said.

"How are you still standing?!" Playmaker demanded.

"You were right to prepare yourself for whatever may come, Playmaker, but there's only so much you can prevent despite the best preparations." Raguel began answering. "The card in my Graveyard has an effect, yes, but it isn't an activated one."

"What do you-?" Playmaker replied, before gasping after realizing what Raguel meant seconds later.

"Roar of the Cyreaths has an additional effect. If I would take damage, I can banish this card from my Graveyard instead." Raguel grinned, as energy began orbiting around him, which went into Excalibur Morgan. "The best part is that you not only take damage equal to half the damage I would have taken, I take no further damage for the rest of this turn."

"Oh no." Playmaker's mouth slightly dropped, having begun to acknowledge what was about to happen.

For the first time in a very long time since the Lost Incident, he was about to lose a duel. A major one, at that.

"Farewell." Raguel simply said, as he charged forward and grabbed Playmaker before throwing him high into the air. Once that was done, Raguel also jumped into the air as black, red and purple particles merged into Excalibur Morgan, which increased the sword's size seconds later. After fully charging up, Raguel brought down Excalibur Morgan onto Playmaker, a massive explosion occurring before the latter was sent falling to the ground, having been wounded as his life points dropped to zero.

Playmaker: 1300 – (9600 / 2) = 0

A wounded Playmaker then landed on the ground, with Raguel landing on the ground as well, having readied himself in case the former would try to get up and continue fighting now that the duel was over.

With a loud shout, Playmaker stood up on his feet, hellbent on stopping Raguel as he felt Ai's algorithm continue to repair the massive wound he sustained. Numera, Tigress, Blue Maiden and Slipstream ran down the slope before reaching another area, where the quartet was able to see the final part of the battle.

Specifically, Playmaker's last stand against Raguel despite having lost the duel through their cards.

Black, red and purple particles merged into Excalibur Morgan before increasing its size seconds later while Playmaker charged forward at Raguel. He brought the blade resembling Decode Talker's sword down at Raguel, who blocked it as a massive blade lock occurred. However, Raguel used the momentum in order to break the blade lock, which caused another massive explosion that destroyed one of the curtain walls of the castle. Leaping high into the air, Raguel skidded on another portion of the destroyed castle while Playmaker jumped high into the air, where he proceeded to kick three logs at the former. In response, Raguel knocked the logs out of the way using Excalibur Morgan, one of which hit the top of a circular tower. As Playmaker landed on one of the remaining curtain walls, he ran on it before he felt himself dodge the falling debris, where he immediately threw a large piece of it at Raguel. Black, red and purple particles merged into Excalibur Morgan once more as Raguel used it to destroy the large debris, which caused an explosion that destroyed another portion of the castle. Raguel then jumped back and landed on the top of the destroyed circular tower, only for him to gasp as Playmaker suddenly appeared and grabbed his head before slamming the former down to the ground.

It didn't stop from here, as Playmaker threw the surprised Raguel several feet before dashing forward and grabbing him once again, having proceeded to slam the former down to the ground for a second time. For Playmaker, it was the most dangerous fight of his life as he grabbed Raguel by the foot and slammed him to the ground again and again. Unfortunately, black, red and purple particles merged into Excalibur Morgan as Raguel swung the amplified sword upwards, which caused another massive explosion that sent both him and Playmaker flying in the air. But there was a difference. Whereas Raguel flew in the air gracefully, Playmaker flew in the air ungracefully, having been massively wounded by the attack as the latter rolled onto the ground while the former landed on it.

No! I can't give up! I can't let Raguel win, Playmaker thought in his mind, as Ai's algorithm continued to heal his body while he stood up on his feet. Even though his Link Sense and Instinct, combined with Ai's algorithm were helping Playmaker in evading serious damage, he started to feel the combined attacks take its toll on him. That meant Playmaker had to put all his energy into one final attack before it was too late.

Raguel swung Excalibur Morgan in upwards arc as waves of energy fired out of it, which Playmaker felt himself dodge successfully. Knowing that the battle was at its end, Raguel began bringing Excalibur Morgan up above his head. In one final attempt to stop Raguel from winning, Playmaker charged forward and attempted to punch him in the gut to send the former flying. Sadly, the punch was only able to crack Raguel's visor as a result of Raguel blocking the attack with his left hand. Raguel then responded with an uppercut, which made Playmaker take a step back as he raised Excalibur Morgan above him, where black, red, and purple particles merged into the sword before into a dark pillar of light that composed of those colors.

"EXCALIBUR MORGAN!" Raguel shouted, as he brought down the pillar of light onto Playmaker, which caused a very large explosion to occur that not only destroyed a portion of the server, but also sent Playmaker flying into the air before rolling onto the ground seconds later, much to everyone else's shock.

That explosion also led Blue Maiden, Tigress, Numera and Slipstream to take shelter behind several pieces of debris nearby, having been able to avoid being blasted away by it. They emerged from the pieces of debris, where the quartet saw the damage the final attack had caused. This was evident by the charred pieces of ground and destroyed wildlife in the area.

Blue Maiden cried tears of sadness after seeing Playmaker get brutally defeated by Raguel, while Slipstream gritted his teeth, Tigress gasped, and Numera trembled upon seeing the duel's gruesome conclusion. The fact that Playmaker, the duelist who defeated Bohman once and for all, had lost caught all of them off guard more than ever.

The quartet saw Playmaker in the small pool of data material, who tried to crawl his way out of it with his remaining strength before shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles wrapped themselves around his body and dragged him in to their horror. Thanks to the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles, Playmaker sank into the pool of data material, having been captured by Raguel as a result.

"It can't be... No... Playmaker..." was all Blue Maiden can say after seeing all of this, the tears of sadness and shock still falling from her eyes.

Suddenly, Raguel jumped high into the air before landing in the area where Blue Maiden, Numera, Tigress, and Slipstream were at. The landing sent the latter two flying off the ground before landing on it, while the former two were pushed to the ground, having hugged each other to ensure neither of them flew off of it. Blue Maiden had Numera go behind her so the former can protect the latter as Raguel pointed Excalibur Morgan at them.

The visor covering Raguel's eyes then snapped in two before it fell onto the ground, with Blue Maiden and Numera gasping in shock as the two of them saw Raguel's face. Just like in the real world, his skin had turned pale, and his cyan-colored eyes had turned red. Blue Maiden, at that moment, realized what Raguel was saying despite having not spoken any words to her.

Hand Numera over.

Or die.

WHOOSH!

Tigress fired several arrows from her crossbow at Raguel, who swung Excalibur Morgan to parry them, only for one of the arrows to hit his chest before releasing a burst of smoke.

"Don't just stand there! Take Numera and run!" Tigress exclaimed to Blue Maiden and Numera, the two of them immediately running away as Raguel continued to parry the arrows fired at him. After slashing through the smoke, he dashed forward at Blue Maiden and Numera, intent on not letting them escape. However, Tigress fired more arrows from her crossbow at Raguel, who was forced to turn around and deflect them before charging at her.

"Get out of my way!" Raguel exclaimed, as he swung Excalibur Morgan at Tigress, who barely dodged the attacks before quickly rolling out of the way. The next thing he knew, Slipstream threw shurikens out of nowhere at him, which hit his back before releasing a puff of smoke that affected his eyes. As a result, Slipstream was able to throw more shurikens that further clouded Raguel's sight.

"Let's go!" Slipstream told Tigress, who nodded in agreement as the two of them followed after Blue Maiden and Numera, having been able to slow Raguel down for the time being. Due to the surprise attacks, Raguel was forced to fall onto his knees, the energy overwhelming his body as he hugged his stomach in pain.

Slipstream and Tigress then caught up to Blue Maiden and Numera, the four of them continuing to run through the forest in the hopes of logging out now that Playmaker's duel with Raguel was done.

"Roxy, we could really use an evac right now." Tigress said, having put a finger on her earpiece.

"We're doing our best, Tigress. Just hold on a little longer, and we'll be able to break through the Shadow's defenses for good this time." Roxy assured her and the others.

"Damn it..." Tigress grit her teeth before she saw something. "LOOK OUT!"

The group suddenly saw Jericho charge forward out of nowhere and attempt to attack them, having resumed chasing the quartet in order to capture Numera now that he disposed of Soulburner. He jumped from tree to tree and threw several daggers made of data material at the quartet, hoping to slow them down. Sure enough, the attacks made Numera stumble a few times before she eventually lost her footing.

"Numera!" Blue Maiden cried out, as she grabbed Numera and hugged her to protect the latter from the impact of the fall.

Tigress fired more arrows from her crossbow at Jericho while Slipstream threw shurikens at their common opponent, who simply dodged them before unsheathing his short sword to knock the two of them aside. A blade of data material appeared in Jericho's hands as he pointed it at Tigress and Slipstream, which fired a blast of data material at the duo so fast that they couldn't react as they fell to the ground.

With Tigress and Slipstream having been stunned, Jericho landed on the ground and dashed forward at Blue Maiden and Numera, intent on ending their lives.

"That's far enough. You are... unnecessary." Jericho whispered into Blue Maiden's ear, having brought both blades onto the duo in order not just to take Blue Maiden's life, but also capture Numera as well. However, two arrows fired out of nowhere, which caused Jericho to dodge them and slide on the ground as Soulburner emerged before kicking him with enough force that the former was pushed back several feet.

"Soulburner..." Blue Maiden muttered, glad that Soulburner was okay.

"You can't finish my friends off without resorting to an ambush? So pathetic." Soulburner scolded Jericho fiercely, the red cracks on the former's body having healed completely, much to the latter's surprise.

"You again? How are you still standing?" Jericho questioned, both curious and annoyed that Soulburner somehow is still breathing. Surely, the Cursed Boundary Layer would have eventually made Soulburner succumb to its influence before dying, so what was going on?

Suddenly, everyone heard a primal scream from Raguel in the area as shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles erupted from the surface, having been unable to keep the energy inside of him for any longer. The lake of data material then began spreading, intent on restraining the others just long enough for the Cursed Boundary Layer to capture them.

"Get moving, guys! If that thing catches you, it's over!" Soulburner warned Blue Maiden, Tigress, Numera and Slipstream as Jericho charged forward, intent on striking the quintet down. Soulburner, however, intercepted and blocked the attack using the blades resembling that of Heatleo's claws, which caused a blade lock seconds later. "I'll take the rear. You guys take Numera and get out of here!"

Nodding, Blue Maiden took Numera's hand while Tigress and Slipstream followed after them, much to Jericho's ire as he tried to break the blade lock so he can hunt the quartet down. However, Soulburner broke the blade lock first and pushed Jericho back in order to try and land several blows on him. Jericho quickly blocked the attacks and retreated into the forest while Soulburner jumped onto the trees before hopping on them one by one in order to stop him.

In Jericho's mind, this was not good. He had to hurry fast so he can capture Numera, but he could never expect a human to survive the Cursed Boundary Layer. Nor could Jericho anticipate Tigress and Slipstream managing to slow Raguel down enough to both regroup and run with Blue Maiden and Numera. Humans are fascinating, yet this is crazy, Jericho frustratingly thought in his mind, as he continued running into the forest so he can blend into the shadows. The good thing was that Raguel was able to eliminate a very powerful enemy in Playmaker, thus making Jericho's job a bit easier. The bad thing was that Jericho didn't have much time left before his prey escaped, especially how they had allies in the real world helping them try to log out of the network. Still, this was minor, as worst-case scenario, Raguel would very likely attack them in the real world to capture Numera.

Before Jericho could continue pondering his next move, Soulburner appeared out of nowhere and dashed onto the ground, intent on striking several blows onto the former. However, Jericho dodged the attack and attempted to strike back, the two of them parrying each other's attacks in an attempt to get the advantage in the fight. Soulburner, having saw an opportunity, unleashed a roundhouse kick that hit Jericho in the neck so hard it made the latter bounce on the ground for several seconds before he began regaining his footing. Having been obstructed by Soulburner's efforts to slow him down, Jericho was forced to retreat in an attempt to regroup and resume his chase to capture Numera. Unfortunately, Soulburner continued to chase Jericho down, hellbent on preventing him from succeeding.

"How?! How can you still move?!" Jericho furiously demanded, as Soulburner charged forward with the blades in his hands, which made the former block the attack that led to another blade lock.

"Isn't that obvious? The thing is, the others and I aren't fully human like the rest thanks to the Lost Incident all those years ago." Soulburner began answering, which made Jericho gasp.

"But your Ignis is dead! These abilities of yours-!"

"Are still with me. And along with another ability I've recently acquired thanks to your attempt to kill me, you could say I've gotten stronger than before. In Flame's memory, I'd like to call it an indomitable soul, if you will." Soulburner began gaining the upper hand in breaking the blade lock as a fiery aura surrounded his body. "As a result, a little corruption doesn't affect me. In other words, the other Lost Incident victims and I are as distorted as that Shadow!"

Soulburner broke the blade lock and slashed Jericho numerous times with the blades resembling Heatleo's claws across his chest, which made the latter squint in pain before he rolled onto the ground as a result. This led to Jericho being forced to log out of the server, having no choice but to retreat for the time being.

"Nice job, Soulburner." Kusanagi praised Soulburner through the comm. "Roxy and I managed to break through the Shadow's defenses and can officially log you guys out now."

"Awesome to hear, Kusanagi. Thank you so much." Soulburner said back, as Blue Maiden, Numera, Tigress and Slipstream ran up to where he was.

Before any of them could say anything else, another of Raguel's primal screams rang through the air as more, shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles appeared and sped towards the quintet, intent on capturing them. They were able to dodge almost all of the tentacles, as five more sped towards the group in an intent to capture them, which they were able to dodge.

"Slipstream, look out!" Soulburner cried out, as he pushed Slipstream out the way so he wouldn't get hurt. As a result, Soulburner was impaled by a shadowy, ribbon-like tentacle, much to everyone's horror.

Tigress fired several arrows from her crossbow in an attempt to stop the Cursed Boundary Layer and free Soulburner, which obviously didn't work. In response, the Cursed Boundary Layer throbbed before it began expanding, as though it were a balloon.

"Roxy! Kusanagi! Get us out of here!" Slipstream said.

"We're on it!" Roxy and Kusanagi replied at the same time, as they typed on the digital keyboards back at Café Matsuo and Café Nagi. To their horror, the log out process was slower than neither of them anticipated.

"Hurry up and get out of here before it's too late!" Soulburner cried out to the group, who immediately began running once more, the log out process having begun. However, Numera ran towards Soulburner before throwing two yellow glowing triangles at the Cursed Boundary Layer, which released a sonic wave that managed to somehow both stun and push it back. This gave Soulburner the opportunity to not only free himself from the Cursed Boundary Layer's grasp, but also raise his right hand in front of him and begin generating fiery energy in it, trails of fire beginning to turn into a shield. To Soulburner's surprise, while he thought he was hearing things, he swore he heard a voice in his head.

One that belonged to Flame.

"Don't let that thing overcome you, Soulburner! Bring the heat and protect everyone!"

Soulburner grit his teeth and opened his right hand at the Cursed Boundary Layer, the trails of fire immediately reinforcing themselves to form into a massive, blazing red magical circle. The fiery aura from before surrounded Soulburner in order to increase his power, and as if on cue, Salamangreat Pyro Phoenix appeared behind the former to assist him. "Pyro Phoenix."

"You won't be doing this alone, Soulburner." Pyro Phoenix assured Soulburner, as he released his energy to contribute towards the shield. It grew larger and larger in order to withstand the Cursed Boundary Layer's attacks. "Ready?"

"YES! LET'S DO THIS!" With a large shout, Soulburner and Pyro Phoenix pushed the massive, blazing red magical circle back at the Cursed Boundary Layer with all their strength, which caused a massive explosion upon impact that sent everyone flying off the ground.

Final Sigma grabbed Numera and Slipstream, while Pyro Phoenix grabbed Soulburner in order to begin escaping the blast radius emitted from the explosion. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Medusa and Achilles appeared before the former grabbed Blue Maiden and the latter grabbed Tigress, all of them successfully escaping in the process.

"Medusa, it's you." Blue Maiden realized, as Medusa helped the former stand up on her feet. Final Sigma and Pyro Phoenix returned back to Numera and Soulburner's respective duel disks seconds later.

"I'm glad you're all safe." Medusa said, while Achilles helped Tigress stand up on her feet.

"Great thing we found you, or else you guys would have suffered some serious damage from that Shadow." Achilles stated.

"Again, the fact your duel monsters talk is a little creepy." Tigress commented.

"Welcome to the club." Slipstream told Tigress, before he and the others saw Soulburner on the ground nearby, who was injured. "Soulburner!" He ran towards Soulburner and tried to help him stand up, only for the latter to fall on one knee.

"Are you guys... safe?" Soulburner asked, as he looked at the others, which confirmed his answer. "That's great. I'm glad you're all okay."

"The log out process is finally complete!" Roxy announced through the comms, as Blue Maiden, Tigress, Numera, Slipstream, and Soulburner all logged out successfully, with Medusa and Achilles following after them seconds later.

Raguel, having saw the others escape in an area some distance away from the group, grit his teeth in pure anger. Had it not been for Tigress and Slipstream, along with the pain that was going through his body due to the excess energy flowing through it, he could have succeeded. Raguel also couldn't anticipate Soulburner using his Link ability to ensure they escaped in the end. Damn them all, he cursed in his mind. Since Raguel couldn't get Numera, that meant he had only one option after moving the captured Playmaker to another server in the network.

He'd have to return to the real world and use his arsenal to capture Numera. The good thing was that Raguel had a feeling where Numera would go to next in the real world, which caused a grin to appear on his face.

With his plan having been finalized, Raguel logged out of his server, intent on returning to the real world after moving the captured Playmaker to a place that can hold him.

Meanwhile, at another area in the network...

Orbiting in another area in the network was a massive ship in the form of a large, black machine monster that had narrowed eyes. He had a tail with a Link Arrow that pointed downwards to the bottom-left attached to the end.

Inside the ship were two individuals. The first was a small boy with yellow eyes and baby-blue hair with an orange under-layer, along with pink wicks on the 'horns' of the hair. His attire consisted of a blue hoodie with a black chest, a white collar with a black line running across the circumference, red forearms and gold cuffs, a yellow undershirt, light blue pants with the left pocket lined with a red and white strip, and white shoes.

The second individual was a tall young man with yellow eyes that had rectangular pupils, along with black shoulder length spiky hair that had yellow tips and purple bangs with pink highlights. His attire consisted of a light purple formal shirt with a black cravat, vest, pants, and cape with golden stripes at the bottom and a red lining. He wore black boots with silver toes and had a pair of purple earrings with orange studs resembling his old head, as well as a blue diamond chip on his neck and back.

"Master, we need to save Playmaker. We can't leave him to die or suffer a fate worse than death at Raguel's hands," the boy told the second individual.

"We can't, Roboppy. Not right now," the second individual lamented, having addressed his comrade by his name. "If we do, then Raguel's victory is assured, and we'll die."

"But Ai, we-," the boy began speaking, having addressed his comrade by his name in response.

"Not right now!" Ai snapped in a tone that was firm and sad, which shut Roboppy up. "Until we know more information, we can't get involved. Otherwise, things will turn for the worse."

Roboppy sadly sighed in response. As much as he hated to admit it, Ai was right. From what the two of them saw, despite Playmaker using his full power, Raguel was able to brutally win in the end. What's more, Raguel captured Playmaker following the duel. It was very likely that Raguel moved to a different base after the events that occurred in the server, which led Roboppy to realize that Ai's logic was sadly true. If they went in and tried to rescue Playmaker right now, they would be done for, and Raguel would ultimately win. "Yes, master. You're right. Sorry for being rude."

"You weren't rude, Roboppy. You were just voicing your opinion." Ai assured Roboppy, before he turned the ship around to go into the depths of the network. He gave Playmaker and the others the coordinates in the hopes that they would stop a corrupted Raguel, but it wasn't the case. What's more, Ai sensed an abnormal presence from the duel, which reminded him of when Bohman was corrupted by the Cursed Boundary Layer.

A sphere of rainbow data appeared in Ai's hand, which he obtained from the other Ignis before Jericho brutally murdered them. From what Ai recalled, Herald called him, Aqua, and Flame to his server after a horrific nightmare, which he told the others about. This led the four Ignis to create a contingency that would prevent it from coming true, or at the very least, mitigate its impact following the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS.

And now that Ai had a piece of Wraith's algorithm in him despite removing the tracker, along with the algorithms of Windy, Earth and Lightning, that meant the contingency Herald set up would be stronger. So, he let the orb flow up high in the air before heading to its new destination, hoping to at least provide more assistance to Playmaker and the others on the sidelines until more information was acquired.

I'm sorry, Yusaku, but Roboppy and I can't help you directly right now, Ai sadly thought in his mind, as he drove the ship to the depths of the network, wanting to lay low until the time was right for him and Roboppy to take action.

Elsewhere, at another area in the network, in Zero's server...

Zero frantically looked from screen to screen as he tried to locate the Cursed Boundary Layer's location in the network. While he wasn't able to find it so far, he did however get alarming news that it had somehow appeared in the real world. At first, Zero didn't believe such a thing, as the Cursed Boundary Layer wouldn't have a way in going to the real world. Rather, the ISOs used it to weaken worlds from the inside out before conquering them. And the fact that they were in the network for so long meant that such a thing should be impossible.

But after looking at the news reports online regarding the Cursed Boundary Layer's appearances in Den City, Zero felt more uneasy than he ever felt before, especially how it's been either draining people's energy or killing them swiftly to obtain it. What's more, Jericho told Zero during their duel that he purposefully infected Yuhiro during the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS, and before the latter could do anything about it, the former sent him right back to the original LINK VRAINS once their duel concluded. The fact that Urizen sent Jericho, his own son to Earth was even worse, as it meant one thing.

That Urizen realized Earth was where the Root of All Knowledge was found, and to ensure success, sent Jericho to make the preparations needed for his arrival.

Zero pressed a few buttons on his duel disk, intent on calling Kairi in order to deliver the bad news. It wasn't just the matters revolving around Jericho appearance on Earth, nor the fact that Yuhiro was infected by the Cursed Boundary Layer. Another piece of information that Zero wanted to share with Kairi was Watchman's reasons of using the Root of All Knowledge at all costs. They weren't in alignment with Myojin's reasons this entire time! Thus leading Zero to conclude that Watchman was ultimately a traitor overall.

"Hello?" a voice suddenly said from Zero's duel disk, which made him realize that Kairi was on the other end.

"Kairi, it's Zero. I have some information-." Zero began speaking.

"Oh, what perfect timing! I have some information to share myself!" Kairi interrupted. "You're not going to believe this, but Urizen's attacks on worlds have ceased recently. I'm not sure why, but it gives us a chance to strike back and acquire more resources so we can stop him. Turn the tide of the war, if you get what I mean."

"No, no, no..." Zero muttered, panic evident in his tone.

"Huh? What's wrong, Zero?"

"I encountered Jericho on Earth! He's unleashed a Cursed Boundary Layer onto the planet!"

Kairi could not speak for what looked like an entire minute on the other end, trying to figure out what to do next. "Are you certain?

"I'm certain, Kairi. It's very likely that Jericho told Urizen about Earth being the Lost World." Zero grimly answered, much to her horror. Kairi knew that something was fishy when Jericho suddenly stopped appearing frequently in the battles between the ISOs and Autos. Yet for Jericho to be sent to Earth before investigating the planet and realizing the Root of All Knowledge was there made it a bad omen. If anything, the discovery would certainly lead to Urizen amassing his forces in order to launch an attack on Earth.

"Do you know where the Cursed Boundary Layer is on Earth? We need to neutralize it as soon as possible, lest the people there suffer the same fate as the other planets." Kairi stated.

"I do, but we have a problem. Apparently, the Cursed Boundary Layer somehow appeared in the real world and drained the energy of several humans. It also murdered other individuals as well." Zero began answering. "It did, however, recently appear in the network. But for the person who's infected…" He paused, unsure what to say next.

"You know who's infected, do you?"

Zero sighed. "Following my duel against Jericho, before he kicked me out of Mirror LINK VRAINS, he told me that he infected one of Myojin's sons with the Cursed Boundary Layer. After scouring through the network, I found footage of Raguel using the Cursed Boundary Layer against Playmaker during their duel."

"Damn it. The Cursed Boundary Layer's already poisoned Raguel's mind. And to make matters worse, Jericho will certainly plot his next move…" Kairi seethed on the other end of the call.

"Which means we'll have to hurry if we're to stop him." Zero finished. "Kairi, at the rate things are going…"

"Yeah. I know, Zero. I never thought our battle against Urizen and the ISOs would be made known to Playmaker and the others back on Earth. I had hoped to end the war before that time came." Kairi lamented.

"I hear you, Kairi." Zero frowned before continuing to speak. "There's something else you should know. Almost all of the Ignis are dead, and I believe that Jericho murdered them during the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS. Only one remains."

"That means Jericho will have seven out of the eight Ignis needed to form the Unity. Now all he needs is the last one before he can get started on it…" Kairi realized. And he'll also go after the Construct as well now that he knows Earth is the Lost World, she thought in her mind. "See if you can find the last Ignis' whereabouts in the network, Zero. If you do, provide that Ignis with sanctuary and make sure they're safe. Who knows? Maybe that Ignis will help us out of gratitude for saving them."

Like with the two individuals who defected from Urizen and helped us, Zero deduced in his mind. Six of the Anointed Alphas worked with Urizen, while the last two betrayed him after seeing just how vile his plans were for the Root of All Knowledge. This led to Kairi and the AUTOs gaining two new allies as a result once the two of them proved their worth to the group. "I'll do that, Kairi. But in the meanwhile, I need to share some troubling information with you, Kairi. Watchman is a traitor."

"A traitor?" Kairi repeated. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. When I dueled Jericho, he shared with me footage from Watchman's duel against Azrael." Zero explained. "Apparently, his reasons in finding the Root of All Knowledge no longer align with Myojin's reasons for seeking it."

There was a pause on the other end, as though Kairi was thinking over this information before she spoke in response to what Zero said just now.

"It could be Jericho playing tricks with you, Zero. You and I both know just how unhinged he is as an enemy. But…." Kairi paused before continuing to speak. "We can't afford to take any risks. Not now."

"What do you want me to do about Watchman then, Kairi? Want me to bring him to you?" Zero asked.

"Yes, please do that." Kairi confirmed. "As for the current situation, tread very carefully, Zero. If needed, you'll have to help out Playmaker and the others in eliminating the Cursed Boundary Layer."

"I will. You have my word." Zero assured Kairi before hanging up on his end. He sighed, exhausted with everything going on. Jericho's appearance on Earth, the Cursed Boundary Layer having already infected Yuhiro, almost all the Ignis dead, and Watchman being a traitor were all troubling matters. But of all those troubling matters, Zero had to focus on eliminating the Cursed Boundary Layer first. Who knows? Maybe he might encounter Jericho or Watchman. Hell, maybe Zero can even find Ai in the network and provide him with sanctuary to ensure the latter's survival.

Kairi was right about one thing. With Jericho's appearance on Earth, it meant that Urizen was coming for Earth. Due to this, the war between the Autos and ISOs would be brought to Earth, and sweep Playmaker and the others into it. That very likely meant that Zero had to reveal himself, especially if there was a chance he can acquire potential and powerful allies in stopping the Cursed Boundary Layer. As for Watchman, Zero was confident that Playmaker and the others would be more than willing to help hunt him down, especially how he betrayed them for his selfish motives in finding the Root of All Knowledge.

Knowing what must be done, Zero logged out of his private server, intent on carrying out Kairi's orders to eliminate the Cursed Boundary Layer, capture Watchman, stop Jericho, and rescue Ai before it was too late.

Meanwhile, at a warehouse in the real world….

Ever since the Tower of Hanoi events, SOL Technologies' integrity was questioned. Some of its partners began doubting whether the company can truly live up to its purposes in both creating new pieces of technology and serving the people, especially one that created LINK VRAINS itself. Thanks to Akira Zaizen's role in stopping the Turf War, SOL Technologies' partners saw hope in the company, and retained their business relationships with it believing that its integrity will truly be restored. However, the attacks in the real world and in the network launched by Yukage, along with the fact that SOL Technologies issued bounties on Playmaker and the others was too far for those partners. As a result, a great majority of them chose to sever their business relationships with SOL Technologies, especially with social media painting the company in a bad light due to recent events. In addition, they even made plans to boycott the company as well. Luckily, some partners stayed upon learning that SOL Technologies managed to stop LINK VRAINS was getting out of control. While a benefit of the doubt was given to SOL Technologies due to there being good and reputable people who actually work for the people's benefit, there was only so many chances other companies would give it.

Hoping to attract more business partners, as well as restore trust with the business partners it already lost, SOL Technologies launched its newest product in the form of Soltis, which were androids created to serve the people. These androids would assist people in numerous environments and scenarios, no matter what happened. From everyday tasks such as cooking and cleaning, along with easing tensions during emergencies, the Soltis would provide everyone with enough assistance to ensure their lives were better everyday. SOL Technologies' ultimate hope with this product was to regain the faith people placed in the company a long time ago, and worked hard to ensure that was the case. The good news was that so far, people were satisfied with the Soltis, and were giving it great reviews. Due to those favorable reviews, it encouraged SOL Technologies in manufacturing more, as the people in Den City loved the product. As such, several Soltis androids were stored in a warehouse just near SOL Technologies, ready to be shipped and sold as soon as possible.

However, one Soltis was not meant to assist in SOL Technologies' mission in regaining the faith of those who lost it towards the company. One Soltis fizzled with electricity before taking Arshad Saito's appearance, the droid immediately breaking the hooks holding it to the wall seconds later.

Arshad Saito had finally returned to the real world after all of this time, and with his strength having been fully regained, was hellbent on acquiring the Root of All Knowledge for himself.

To ensure secrecy and avoid suspicion at the same time, Arshad grabbed another Soltis android nearby before hooking it onto the wall. This way, the company would think it didn't lose one of its Soltis, when it actually did in reality. Walking over to the door, Arshad quietly opened it before looking around, where he noticed several security guards guarding the warehouse. Given how profitable the Soltis were currently, the company did not want to take any chances in losing their new product.

Acting quickly, Arshad closed the door quietly before speeding forward and knocking each security guard out just long enough so he can escape before blending into the shadows, which enabled him to successfully leave the warehouse area. He continued moving in the shadows towards his next destination. Or at the very least, one he strongly believed where Yuhiro would go to next after everything that's happened.

Following the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS, Arshad took his time to recover in his server while keeping tabs in the real world so he can determine what was going on. From what he saw, the Cursed Boundary Layer had somehow manifested itself into the real world before draining the life of numerous individuals either by pricking each one to get a small sample or merely killing them to get it all at once. The Cursed Boundary Layer's rampant appearances during the night piqued Arshad's curiosity, as he wanted to know what it was doing in the real world. After obtaining a decent amount of information, Arshad hypothesized that the Cursed Boundary Layer must have latched onto someone before they logged out of the network, which led to it appearing in the night draining the life force of people.

Sure enough, Arshad's theory was correct, as the Cursed Boundary Layer attached itself onto Yuhiro at some point during the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS, who was able to log into the network whole due to him wielding Excalibur. This was evident during the duel between Yuhiro and Playmaker, the former using it onto the latter in order to defeat him in the end. The fact that Yuhiro managed to defeat a full powered Playmaker concerned Arshad, as it can interfere with his goal in acquiring the Root of All Knowledge for his own intentions. It wasn't just Yuhiro that Arshad had to be worried about, as Jericho was also there during the duel, having attempted to eliminate the others in order to capture Rachel in the network, who was the only other Construct remaining now that Bohman was dead. If Arshad wasn't careful, then Jericho would eliminate him. And the fact that Jericho was here meant that Ukyos would soon be arriving with his forces, which made Arshad's mission in completing his objective important if he was to succeed. Though whether Yuhiro was either doing this willingly, or Jericho was controlling him was something Arshad wanted to find out himself.

Based on this series of events, Arshad hypothesized that Yuhiro would be going after Rachel in the real world following his failure to do so in the network, with Jericho laying low before striking so he can seize her for himself. In addition, after Arshad watched the final battle between Playmaker and Bohman, he theorized that Ai would have the remaining algorithms of the fallen Ignis, which meant that he couldn't let Yuhiro capture him. Besides, there was a connection between the Ignis and their respective Origins, where one would feel the others' pain. Or a sense of emptiness after something horrific happened to one of them.

Now that Yuhiro captured Playmaker, Arshad could not let him nor Jericho capture Ai or Rachel, or else his plans for seizing the Root of All Knowledge would be in jeopardy. As such, he'd convince the others in forming a temporary alliance in stopping Yuhiro, and very likely Jericho as well, lest things get worse for everyone involved. Did Arshad have regrets for his role in the Lost Incident? Specifically, how he used everyone in order to reach the Root of All Knowledge and use it to eradicate sin, get revenge on Urizen, and avenge Myojin and Lyla at the same time? No. Arshad did not in the end. Though his motives were selfish, Arshad at least wanted to ensure that the Root of All Knowledge was obtained. After all, that goal was slowly born upon beginning to work with Myojin and Ukyos.

With this in mind, Arshad continued to blend in the shadows as he travelled in order to reach the very destination Yuhiro would certainly strike next.

Café Matsuo.

If Arshad was lucky, he can get there first, and convince those who were there to work together one last time to stop Yuhiro. Besides, this final alliance would have mutual benefit given their current enemy. After that, Arshad knew their alliance would never happen again, as the others would never understand how his end goals would justify the means used to achieve them. On the personal side, Arshad had business with Ukyos, and Jericho's appearance gave him the opportunity to get even with his former friend.

Besides, a blood debt was always paid, and Arshad getting payback on Ukyos would be an additional win for him. And along with the Root of All Knowledge being close to Arshad's grasp with the knowledge he had, his goals would finally come to fruition soon.

In the sunset over Den City, Yuhiro, Miyu, and Arashi are depicted with Yusaku, Aoi, and Takeru looking out over the area.

Silhouettes of Earth, Windy, Aqua, Flame, Lightning, Herald, and Wraith are shown as Ai clenches his heart in despair before morphing into his human form. The screen shifts to the real world, which shows Roboppy looking out a window as a silhouette of his human form is shown with him.

Jin, Kusanagi, and Katsuya look at the starry skies, grateful smiles on their faces as they do so, glad to be reunited with one another, Silhouettes of Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and Codebreaker Virus Berserker appear in the area to ensure the peaceful moment wasn't disrupted.

Emma and Kengo Dojun are shown at the Den City hospital visiting his mother as she wakes up, happy to see her son again. A light-blue glow briefly surrounds her body before dimming, as though it were blessing her. In another area of the hospital, Roxy is shown lovingly embracing Miyu with joy, Aoi also smiling after seeing her wake up. Nearby is Yuhiro, who smiles as he watches the group. However, he lowers his head in sadness as he recalls everything that had to be sacrificed for this moment to occur.

Akira is shown rushing over to a helicopter, intent on completing an urgent business assignment. Hayami follows after him in a hurry, having also been called to assist him in completing the assignment.

A split screen then pops up, showing Tsubaki spending time with Hideki on one side, while Gekiryushi is training at the Shinpi-Tekina dojo, people happy to see the dojo being rejuvenated on the other side. Portrait of Zandaka, Kataru, and Arakan are also in the background. A second split screen appears next, showing Greg and Rachel spending time with one another, while Gil is looking at documents with the Bit and Boot under his command.

The screen then shows Youta, Ryoken, and Takeya looking over a high platform, with Yua, Kyoko, Aso, Eizaburo, and Mikuru in the background watching them. It then shifts to show Emon looking over Beatrice's grave at the cemetery before fading away.

A portrait of everyone riding their duel boards in LINK VRAINS appears on a table as Yusaku and Yuhiro put down their duel disks, having accepted everything that's happened as they strive to move forward towards a brighter future.

Card Gallery

Raguel:

Cyreath Ouroboros (LV: 3/Cyberse/Dark/ATK: 800/DEF: 1600)

Effect: If you control a 'Cyreath' monster while this card is in your hand or in your GY: You can Special Summon it to your field. If this card is used as material for the Link, Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summon of a 'Cyreath' monster (Quick Effect): You can have all monsters your opponent controls lose 500 ATK until the End Phase.

Cyreath Hecate (LV: 4/Cyberse/Dark/ ATK: 1800/DEF: 1800)

Effect: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned while you control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster (Quick Effect): You can target 1 'Cyreath' Spell or Trap card in your GY; either add it to your hand OR Set it to your field. If this card is used as material for the Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon of a 'Cyreath' monster: You can banish 1 card your opponent controls. You can only use each effect of 'Cyreath Hecate' once per turn.

Cyreath Charon (LV: 4/Cyberse/Dark/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1600)

Effect: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned while you control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster (Quick Effect): You can either add 1 'Cyreath' monster from your deck to your hand, OR Special Summon 1 'Cyreath' monster from your GY to your field. If this card is used as material for the Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Link Summon of a 'Cyreath' monster: You can negate the effects of 1 card on your opponent's field. You can only use each effect of 'Cyreath Charon' once per turn.

Cyreath Awakening (Normal Spell card)

Effect: Special Summon 1 'Cyreath' monster from your GY, OR if you control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster: You can Special Summon 2 'Cyreath' monsters with different names from your deck to your field instead. You can only activate 1 'Cyreath Awakening' per turn.

Cyreath Domain – Tartarus (Continuous-Spell card)

Effect: All 'Cyreath' monsters you control gain 300 ATK and DEF; also your opponent cannot target them with card effects. You can send 1 'Cyreath' monster from your Extra Deck to your GY: Special Summon 1 Alpha/Mode' Link Monster whose name includes the tributed Monster's name from your Extra Deck, and if you do, treat it as having been Special Summoned by the effect of 'Alpha Mode Activate'. If this card leaves the field: You can target 1 'Cyreath' Link monster you control; shuffle cards from your GY into your deck up to that monster's Link rating. You can only use each effect of 'Cyreath Domain - Tartarus' once per turn.

Cyreath Unleashed Rites (Normal Trap card)

Effect: Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link Summon a 'Cyreath' monster from your Extra Deck, using only 'Cyreath' monsters on your field. If you control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster: You can also use 'Cyreath' monsters in your GY, by banishing them. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can banish this card from your GY; add 1 'Cyreath' card from your deck to your hand, OR add 2 'Cyreath' cards from your deck to your hand if you control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster. Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to the activation of each of this card's effects. You can only activate 1 'Cyreath Unleashed Rites' effect per turn, and only 1 that turn.

Cyreath Asclepius (LR: 3/Cyberse/Fire/ATK: 2500/⬅️⬆️➡️)

Effect: 2 or more 'Cyreath' monsters. During either player's turn, when your opponent adds a card from their deck to their hand, except during the Draw Phase (Quick Effect): You can inflict 1000 damage to your opponent. At the end of the damage step, if this card battled (Quick Effect): You can shuffle cards on your opponent's field up to the number of 'Cyreath' monsters used for this card's Link Summon, and if you do, gain 800 LP for each card shuffled into your opponent's deck by this effect. You can only use each effect of 'Cyreath Asclepius' once per turn.

Cyreath Anemoi Gryphon (LV: 10/Cyberse/Wind/Synchro/Pendulum/ATK: 3000/DEF: /PS: 11)

Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, you can target one 'Cyreath' monster you control; it can attack your opponent directly this turn, but any damage it inflicts is halved.

Monster Effect: 1 'Cyreath' Tuner monster + 1 or more non-Tuner 'Cyreath' monsters. If this card in the Monster Zone is destroyed: You can place this card in your Pendulum Zone. When this card is Special Summoned: You can place 'Pierce' counters on cards on your opponent's field up to the number of 'Cyreath' monsters you control. (Cards with a Pierce counter cannot activate their card effects, also, monsters with a Pierce counter cannot attack.). Each time a 'Cyreath' monster you control inflicts battle damage, place 1 'Pierce' counter on a card your opponent controls. If this card is Synchro Summoned using a 'Cyreath' Synchro monster, it gains the following effect:

You can target 1 monster your opponent controls that has a 'Pierce' counter on it; take control of it, and if you do, remove it, and if you do that, treat it as a 'Cyreath' monster.

If this card leaves the field by battle or your opponent's card effect: You can send all cards your opponent controls with 'Pierce' counters to the GY, and if you do, inflict 300 damage for each card sent to the GY by this effect. Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to the activation of each of this card's effects, also, cards and effects that activate when they're sent to the GY this turn cannot be activated. You can only use this effect of 'Cyreath Anemoi Gryphon' once per turn.

Cyreath Thuellai Charybdis (LV: 11/Cyberse/Water/Fusion/Pendulum/ATK: 3300/DEF: 2500/PS: 1)

Pendulum Effect: Once per turn: You can target 1 'Cyreath' monster you control; it gains 800 ATK for each monster your opponent controls with different names until the End Phase, but other monsters you control can't attack the turn you activate this effect.

Monster Effect: "Cyreath Hewdraw" + 2 Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum or Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monsters. If this card is Fusion Summoned: You can either add 1 'Cyreath' card from your deck to your hand or send it to your GY. You can target 1 monster your opponent controls; until the End Phase, change that targeted monster's ATK and DEF to 0, also, negate that target's effects, and this card gains that monster's original effects. If this card leaves the field by battle or your opponent's card effect: You can destroy all monsters your opponent controls, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the highest ATK among those destroyed monsters in the GY (your choice, if tied). Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to the activation of each of this card's effects. You can only use each effect of 'Cyreath Thuellai Charybdis' once per turn.

Playmaker:

Cyberse Diffractor (LV: 7/Cyberse/Light/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1600)

Effect: If you control a Link 3 or higher Cyberse monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand to your field. If you would take damage by battle or card effect: You can banish this card from your GY instead; and if you do, Cyberse monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle, also, any damage you would take is reduced by the number of Cyberse Link monsters you control X 500. You can only use each effect of 'Cyberse Diffractor' once per turn.

Backup Supporter (LV: 4/Cyberse/Light/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1500)

Effect: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can target 1 Cyberse monster you control; it gains 500 ATK until the End Phase. If a Cyberse Link monster you control battles and this card is in your GY: You can banish this card from your GY; shuffle your monster back into your Extra Deck, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Cyberse Link monster with the same Link rating as the Cyberse Link monster shuffled by this effect. For the rest of this turn, any damage you would take from battles involving the Cyberse Link monster Special Summoned by this effect is reduced to zero. You can only use each effect of 'Backup Supporter' once per turn.

Link Treasure Ticket (Spell card) (credit to Scififan599)

Effect: Target 1 Link monster you control; draw cards equal to its Link rating, then send an equivalent number of cards from the top of your deck to your GY. You can only activate 1 "Link Treasure Ticket" per turn.

Cynet Exclusion (Spell card) (credit to Scififan599)

Effect: Banish up to 3 monsters from your GY that are a different monster type (Link, Fusion, Synchro and Xyz); send Cyberse monsters from your Extra Deck to your GY. If you control a Cyberse Link monster: You can banish this card from your GY; draw 2 cards. You can only use each effect of 'Cynet Exclusion' once per turn.

Link Encasement (Equip Spell card)

Effect: Equip only to a Cyberse Link monster you control. The equipped monster is unaffected by your opponent's card effects. If this card leaves the field: You can activate this effect; for the rest of this turn, any damage you would take is reduced by the equipped Cyberse Link monster's Link rating X 500. You can only activate 1 'Link Encasement' per turn.

Cynet Determination (Normal Trap card)

Effect: Target 1 Cyberse monster you control; send 1 Cyberse monster from your deck or Extra Deck to your GY, and if you do, you can have the targeted monster gain ATK equal to the ATK of the Cyberse monster sent to your GY by this effect. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can banish this card from your GY and target 1 Cyberse monster you control; Special Summon 1 Cyberse Link monster from your Extra Deck whose ATK is less than or equal to the targeted Cyberse monster's original ATK, and treat it as a Link Summon. This effect can only be used once while it's in the GY.

Cynet Blockade (Continuous-Trap card)

Effect: When this card is activated: You can target 1 Cyberse Link monster you control; while that monster is on your field, your opponent cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck whose ATK is less than the targeted monster's ATK. If you control a Link 3 or higher Cyberse monster: You can shuffle 1 Cyberse monster from your GY into your deck; gain LP equal to that monster's original ATK. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there and you control a Link 3 or higher Cyberse monster: You can Set this card from your GY to your field, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use each effect of 'Cynet Blockade' once per turn.

QOTC

In the duels between the main OC and Playmaker across VRAINS fanfics, which one is your favorite? How do you think OC characters from other VRAINS fanfics would react if they learned the truth about Raguel's recent actions and his reasons for doing so, along with the fact that he defeated Playmaker, who tried to win the duel using his full power? And if Raguel dueled the same way he did in this chapter against those characters from other VRAINS fanfics using physical, mental, and tactical force, do you think he'd have the chance to win?

Chapter Preview

Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 98: Extract and Escape. Following Yuhiro's duel against Yusaku, he proceeds to kidnap Rachel in the real world, his duel monsters at his beck and call to complete the task. Despite some unexpected assistance appearing to protect Rachel and the others from Yuhiro's wrath, she surrenders, knowing that she doesn't want the people in her life to get hurt. As the others present comprehend what happened, Aoi makes preparations to log into the network and rescue Yusaku and Rachel, only to receive an offer of help from someone she didn't expect...

Author's Notes

A huge thank you to Scififan599 for giving me permission to use some OC cards from their story, along with HunterHQ for double checking the duel.

This chapter... honestly had a lot going on. And by a lot going on, I mean a lot, so it's vital that we break everything down scene by scene, don't you all agree:

As this chapter continues right after Chapter 96, it starts with Roxy, Miyu, Arashi and Brea's reactions upon seeing Yuhiro snapping at the hands of the Cursed Boundary Layer. All of them are shocked that such a thing should happen, thus leading the group to try and track him down before something worse happens through the ID on Yuhiro's duel disk. Unfortunately, that idea gets shot down by Arashi after pointing out that it's like looking for a needle through a haystack, only for it to be reinforced further after Roxy tells the others that Rachel's been kidnapped. Knowing that Rachel may have a role in what's going on, the group decides to find Rachel's whereabouts in the network by locating the ID in the duel disk, while Roxy sends Arashi to warn the others. As for Miyu, she calls Aoi and requests her assistance on stopping Yuhiro before it's too late. Note that if Miyu wanted to join the others in trying to stop Yuhiro, Roxy would slightly be against it, as she doesn't have a deck yet despite having an avatar. Plus, Miyu hasn't begun her training yet.

Elsewhere, Arashi runs to Café Nagi to warn Yusaku, Takeru and Kusanagi about what happened to Yuhiro, where just like with Roxy concluding that the Shadow's using Yuhiro to kidnap Rachel, the group reaches that same conclusion. They also hypothesize that Jericho has a role in all of this, especially in how he appeared during the final stages of the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS. Just when they begin to work while Kusanagi informs Roxy that they received the information from Arashi, the group receives a set of coordinates from Ai, as evident by his algorithm. However, the group double checks it because the last time a situation such as this occurred, it led to Takeru getting trapped by Blood Shepherd. Following the double check, the group talks about if there's any possible allies that can help them, and after some deliberation, they decide on Brea and Aoi for a simple reason. It's because those two individuals have worked with them before. That, and individuals like Ghost Girl, Blood Shepherd and Go Onizuka wouldn't be available, which makes Brea and Aoi the only two main candidates to help them out at such a perilous time. Regarding how Brea's family is connected to the Lost Incident, do expect her to tell the others about this in a different chapter. Though not now obviously, especially as how the group have to stop Yuhiro from rampaging in the network.

From there, Yusaku and the others log into the network in order to rescue Rachel and placate Yuhiro before it's too late. While Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream confront Raguel, Tigress and Blue Maiden go to rescue Numera, who's being chased by a Shadow creature. For those of you who are curious, again, the giant shadow creature's appearance is based off of the Shadow Giants from Fate/Stay Night. In addition, the Shadow giants are also another function of the Cursed Boundary Layer, for while the infected host accumulates large amounts of energy, the Shadow giants are a security system that acts to keep the process from being interfered by outside threats. What's more, it takes a massive amount of energy to defeat the Shadow giants, which is why Final Sigma's attacks managed to make an impact in the first place, only for it to retreat after realizing just how unworldly they were.

Elsewhere in the server, Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream confront Raguel, who admits to murdering people due to being corrupted by the Cursed Boundary Layer. It's here where Raguel reveals why he's doing all of this: To fulfil his family's destiny, finish what Azrael had started, and fix the broken universe by using the Root of All Knowledge to destroy sin. The interesting thing is that Raguel sees how neither eradicating free will nor destroying mankind will solve the problem, as they're temporary fixes. Instead, Raguel wants to go to the source in the hopes that all living beings will be freed from sin for good. But for that to happen, Raguel needs to get the Root of All Knowledge.

He even explains how sin has caused nothing but pain to everyone, whether it's through our own sins or through the consequences that other people's sins produce, thus resulting in a broken universe. Thus explaining why Raguel is doing all of this in the end. In response, Playmaker says that he's disgusted by Raguel's actions, and tries to remind him of the person he is. Unfortunately, that speech doesn't work, with Raguel declaring that he'll finish what his family and Azrael started before fading away, which makes the others realize that they were talking to a data clone this entire time. Yup, that's right! For those of you who've forgotten, Raguel has Ace's data clone program with him.

Following this is the duel you've all been wanting to see for a very long time: Raguel vs Playmaker. Given the positive feedback received for the fight scenes, I've decided to try something new. What if duelists fought with more than cards? What if, during the duel using their cards, they also fought in actual combat? That's what I did for this duel, as Raguel and Playmaker both fought with their cards and in combat against one another. What's more, Excalibur has been corrupted into Excalibur Morgan, thus turning the sword into a deadlier weapon than ever before.

I will say this regarding Raguel. His abilities as a swordsman have been exponentially increased as a result of being corrupted by the Cursed Boundary Layer. However, it's come at a cost, as while his offensive and defensive abilities have increased, his agility decreased in the process. This means opponents who are nimble can land a blow on Raguel, which is something Playmaker took advantage of thanks to his Link Sense and Instinct. Regarding Instinct, this was teased back in Chapter 69, where Playmaker felt his body move in order to dodge Raguel's attacks during the Shinai match. Has Playmaker mastered it? No, but Soulburner did give Playmaker training sometime between Chapter 69 and prior to Mirror LINK VRAINS, when they weren't on missions or on breaks. As for his Link Sense, Playmaker was able to detect when an attack was coming and dodge it, which was how he managed to evade some of the Cursed Boundary Layer's attacks, along with Raguel's attacks of course.

Playmaker using his Link Sense and Instinct during the fight was one of three major reasons why he survived the battle against Raguel. The second was obviously plot armor, as Playmaker is an essential part of the story. But the third reason why Playmaker survived was because Raguel wasn't trying to kill him. Rather, Raguel's objective was to capture Playmaker in order to draw Ai out in the hopes that he'll try to rescue him. Once Ai comes to try and rescue Playmaker, then Raguel would capture him. Simple as that. And given how the Ignis and their Origins are so connected with one another, Raguel got that idea after hearing about how Specter felt empty following Earth's death during the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS. He wanted to injure Playmaker and capture him in order to draw Ai out.

Moving the fighting part of the duel aside, Playmaker went all out against Raguel during their fight using their cards. He built an Extra Link on his first turn using a total of four Link 3 monsters and one Link 2 monster, and even acquired resources in the process for him to use later on. What's more, Playmaker brought out a new Ritual monster in Cyberse Sage, along with a new Fusion monster in Cyberse Desavewurm later on in the duel before using the two of them to bring out Cyberse Quantum Dragon. Thus allowing him to Ritual, Fusion and Synchro Summon in a single turn. Due to all of this, Playmaker was able to massively decrease Raguel's life points as a result.

In response to this, Raguel brought out new monsters such as a Fusion Pendulum monster in Cyreath Thuellai Charybdis, a Synchro Pendulum monster in Cyreath Anemoi Gryphon, and a new Link 3 monster in Cyreath Asclepius. But that wasn't all Raguel unleashed, as he also used new cards in order to stay in the duel. Some of those cards Raguel made, believe it or not, were inspired by the cards in the 'Evil Eye' deck, only stronger and more oriented towards the 'Cyreath' archetype. As such, here's a few examples:

Cyreath Ouroboros = Basilius, Familiar of the Evil Eye.

Cyreath Hecate = Medusa, Watcher of the Evil Eye.

Cyreath Charon = Serziel, Watcher of the Evil Eye.

Cyreath Awakening = Evil Eye Awakening.

Cyreath Domain – Tartarus = Evil Eye Domain – Pareidolia.

Will you see more cards that Raguel made by using Ace's deck as inspiration? Yes.

As the duel reaches its conclusion, Raguel reveals to Playmaker (and those watching) that Azrael and Wraith were the ones who ultimately freed everyone from the Lost Incident. Note that Playmaker and the others did not know this information until right now. Following this revelation, Playmaker prevents Raguel from hunting down Numera, Tigress, Blue Maiden and Slipstream before taking his final turn, where he summons Firewall Dragon Darkfluid. Unfortunately, it was all for naught, as Raguel used Roar of the Cyreaths' final effect to reflect half of the damage onto Playmaker while reducing the amount the former would have taken to zero. And following one final clash, Raguel wins before capturing Playmaker.

Some of you might be wondering why Soulburner wasn't there to learn this truth, so allow me to explain below. While Playmaker and Raguel fought, Roxy and Kusanagi found an opening in the Cursed Boundary Layer so they can log out Blue Maiden, Tigress, Numera, Soulburner and Slipstream, so the quintet had to reach the opening in order to do so. However, Jericho appears and tries to kidnap Numera, only for Soulburner to intercept the attack before confronting him. This leads to a fight between Soulburner and Jericho before the Cursed Boundary Layer wounds the former, with the latter revealing that he murdered the other Ignis. After doing so, Jericho retreats back into the shadows in order to seize the next opportunity to capture Numera.

Following the duel's conclusion, the quintet retreats deep into the forest, with Jericho following after them. However, to his surprise, Soulburner appears and intercepts his attack. Some of you might be wondering how in the world Soulburner survived the Cursed Boundary Layer. Well, folks, you could say Soulburner's Link ability has been awakened. It's called Link Soul, which allows Soulburner to continue fighting no matter the circumstances he's in to the very end. Thanks to this unexpected ability, Soulburner was not only able to force Jericho to retreat, but also protect everyone from the Cursed Boundary Layer's wrath as well before Roxy and Kusanagi was able to log them out. As for why Raguel wasn't able to stop them in time, it was for two reasons. First being that Tigress and Slipstream were able to catch him off guard with attacks that distorted his vision temporarily. Second being how Raguel struggled to keep the energy inside him. It does fit with what Ryoken said regarding Raguel being a bomb with a lit fuse, don't you agree?

After this comes three more scenes. First being the scene with Ai and Roboppy, who have been watching the duel between Raguel and Playmaker. The two of them couldn't get involved because if they did, then Raguel would have won in the end. Though Ai did help by providing Playmaker and the others with the coordinates in order to try and stop Raguel. How else do you think Ai and Roboppy will help our heroes in both stopping Raguel and rescuing him from the Cursed Boundary Layer's grasp? You'll have to read on to find out.

The second last scene is with Zero reporting his findings to Kairi, which include Jericho's appearance, the Cursed Boundary Layer having infected Raguel, the death of seven out of the eight Ignis and Watchman being a traitor. After receiving this series of bad news, Kairi has Zero do the following: Find Ai and give him sanctuary, capture Watchman and bring him to Kairi, and last but not least, assist Playmaker and the others in eliminating the Cursed Boundary Layer. For as Kairi said, she had hoped to end the war against Urizen and the ISOs, and she didn't want to bring it to the planet Earth.

As for the final scene, it's basically Watchman hijacking into a Soltis after his recovery, having finally been able to return to the real world. What do you think will happen next? You'll have to read on to find out.

So without further ado, I want to thank you all for reading Chapter 97 of Obscured Truth. Also, constructive criticism is appreciated, as your tips and advice helps make the story better. In addition, don't forget to favourite and follow the story. That way, you will get a notification once the next chapter is released. If you can also answer the QOTC, that would be awesome as well.

What did you enjoy the most about this chapter? The brutal battle between Raguel and Playmaker? Raguel's reasons for going after the Root of All Knowledge? The scenes involving Kairi and Zero? The fact that Arshad hijacked a Soltis and is now back in the real world? Or is it something else?

That's all for now, everyone. See you next time, as we're only two chapters away from Chapter 100. My goal is to reach that chapter by the end of December, and with your support and encouragement, I know we can reach that goal by that time. But for now, I'll see you next month, for the next chapter will celebrate the fourth-year anniversary of Obscured Truth!